Heir of the Founders
by TheNewHeir
Summary: What if something happened before Harry got on the train and just disappeared?What would happen if the Founders, new characters, the Slytherin heir and Gryffindor were involved in the disappearance of Harry? Fanfic with Manipulative!Dumbledore, Weasley Bashing, Good!Tom Riddle and very much Alive!Founders.OC.
1. Waking up in a weird place

**Heirs of the Founders**

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages_

 _Chapter 1: Waking up in a weird place_

Emma slowly woke up as she rubbed at her eyes. _Where am I?_ she thought. _I don't remember anything from last night!_ She cautiously swung her legs over the side of her bed and noticed that the sheets and covers of the bed were all blue with bronze trimmings across the duvet. _How odd! This isn't the Gryffindor dormitories!_ She thought quickly. Emma's hazel eyes glanced over the room noticing all of the blue and bronze colours imprinted across the vast space. Almost afraid(she wasn't actually afraid as she was a Gryffindor but she was close to scared as she realised she didn't know where she was)of what would happen, she tip-toed across the room as she saw the floor-to-ceiling, mahogany bookshelves which were packed full of ancient tomes which looked like that at any moment, burst the shelves as there were so many books and she continued to note mentally all of the decorations of the space, including the deep blue walls of marble where a roaring fireplace stood with an empty portrait above it. _Why is it empty?_ She thought curiously. Her gaze soon turned to a desk which was backed up against the wall with lots of pieces of parchment strewn out over the surface, cluttering it, but that wasn't what caught Emma's eye. Above the desk was an inscription- no strike that, it was a riddle. It said:

 _If you truly deserve knowledge you will not use it for your own gain but to help others. If you crave knowledge then you will go to this place a lot. In this place things are restricted but also given. Where am I?_

Emma contemplated what the riddle meant then realise as if she was dumb, "Of course," she faintly whispered. "The place is the library." This time she spoke clearly and in a normal tone with a hint of confidence weaved into her words. A panel from the wall slid inwards to reveal a leather-bound journal with pages yellowed with age, curiosity took the best of Emma as she quickly got a hold of the journal which she looked at it interested. She flipped the journal over and saw the Ravenclaw crest stamped into cover. She gasped as she dropped the fact-filled tome onto the marble floor as realisation crossed over her mind. She had to know if anyone else was here and fast.

* * *

Emma bolted down the dimly lit corridor which connected her room to other chambers. Her eyes darted around the corridor, looking for a room door showing signs of someone being in it or some sort of common room. She could see a big light at the end of the hallway, when she knocked into someone, making them both fall over. "Oh, I am so sorry!" Emma apologised quickly, helping the person up. "It's alright Emma." came the voice of Harry Potter, a fellow Gryffindor," I assume you also woke up in a room which you didn't know where it was?"

"Yeah. Mine was the Ravenclaw room. What about you?" Emma questioned.

"I woke up in the Gryffindor room." yawned Harry as his shirt rolled up to reveal several wounds and bruises as well as many scars. Emma stared at Harry with a look of shock and horror on her face. Harry asked her what was wrong and Emma opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut her mouth again when her brain froze and she tried to splutter out words. Harry asked her again what was wrong and all Emma could do was point at his stomach where, mere moments ago, she saw all of the wounds. Harry's eyes widened in fear as he realised what Emma was trying to tell him. Harry started to briskly run down to the end of the corridor when he felt a hand grab his arm and spin him around. Emma was about to question Harry about the scars when Neville Longbottom stuck his head through the archway to the other chamber, and asked what rooms they awoke in. Harry and Emma told him, he then said which room he woke up in (the Hufflepuff room) and asked if they could help Neville with the details of the living quarters. They both agreed to tell him as much as they knew and walked into a sort of common room when Harry gave a sigh of relief about not getting asked a question. Emma sent him a glare which told Harry that they would talk about the scars later.

The common room was extremely spacious with lots of light seeping in through the glass windows which stood in the carved-out archways in the walls. The room incorporated the four colours of the houses together well and consisted of lots of textbooks on blue bookcases, symbolising Ravenclaw, yellow plant pots and things to do with Herbology represented Hufflepuff, different potions and potion ingredients were scattered all over the green potions worktop and a mini duelling area full of weapons surrounded with red chairs represented Gryffindor. There was a roaring fire in the middle of a wall with four portraits above it, all empty. A comfy sitting area was placed around the fire like in the Gryffindor common room.

Neville sat down opposite Emma and Harry, who told Neville what happened when they woke up, Neville said the same thing happened to him. Emma was the first to notice that there was only three of them and not four as the Slytherin room hadn't been talked about, she commented on the absence of said child and she began to wonder why the Slytherin room hadn't been touched (Harry had gone to check the room when Emma had commented about the missing child, and had found that nothing in the room had been touched). "Maybe there isn't someone for the Slytherin room?" suggested Harry.

"No, that can't be right because if what I think is true, then we would have come here last year if the person from Slytherin wasn't here now. So, there has to be a new transfer or a new Slytherin student." murmured Emma.

"Wait, what is it that you think?" asked Harry.

"I am pretty sure I am correct when I say this. I am sure that we are heirs to the Founders." Emma explained.

"That is correct, my heir."


	2. News

**Heirs of the Founders**

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages_

 _Chapter 2: News_

"I am Rowena Ravenclaw." A beautiful witch with long ebony hair walked into a painting above the fireplace, the witch smiled at the three shocked children." No need to worry. I am here with Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor." As Rowena finished talking, three other people came in to their respective portraits." Where is my heir?" questioned Salazar.

The three children nervously glanced at each other as Emma finally decided to answer," Well… we don't actually…know."

"WHAT!" Salazar shouted with frustration clear on his face," THEN HOW THE HELL ARE YOU ALL HERE!"

"I think I can answer that." No-one had noticed Emma moving to the Slytherin area of the room during Salazar's outburst. She held up a diary which didn't seem that old.

"Oh my…There is dark magic surrounding that diary! Call a house elf called Mipsy and get her to check the diary." ushered Rowena hurriedly.

Neville shouted for Mipsy and asked her to check the diary. Mipsy told all of them that it was a horcrux (which the three young Gryffindors didn't know what that meant) and that the boy inside was in critical condition and was showing side effects of the imperius curse. Rowena, Helga and Godric had tears tumbling down their faces whilst Salazar's face was contorted with anger as he learnt his heir was in such a state. Salazar ordered Mipsy to get his heir out of the diary and to get Professor McGonagall. Godric then explained that McGonagall could be trusted with all of the information.

Professor McGonagall appeared with Mipsy and a look of complete shook crossed over her face as she saw the common room and then the Founders. Helga, with the help of Rowena, Godric and Salazar, explained to the Professor, the story about what had transpired. McGonagall agreed to help Mipsy get Tom Riddle out of the diary and soon everyone saw a frail, trembling boy appear from the diary, cuts, scars, welts and bruises showing on the area where his school robes weren't there. Everyone's faces paled considerably as Tom let out a heart-wrenching whimper of pain. McGonagall levitated him to the Slytherin room with the three Gryffindors and the Founders (which the Professor was still shocked to see, even in portrait form) closely following. The Gryffindor Head of House laid the poor boy down on the four-poster bed which emitted a pained noise from the boy. She then ushered everyone out of the room so she could heal him properly.

 _1 hour later_

Neville, Harry, Emma and Rowena were in the common room talking about being the heirs of Hogwarts, and what it entailed. "Since you now know that you are the heirs, I shall remove any enchantments on you." Rowena spoke softly. With a flick of her hand, a light, blinding glow edged around the three. Rowena conjured three full-length mirrors for all of them to see their true appearance.

Emma was the first to gaze at her reflection. Her hair was now in ringlets of curls, instead of being wavy, and now went down to her waist and shined in the light. She now was a little taller and her frame (although already small) became more petite, her muscles grew even though she was the strongest in her year already. Her face was slimmer then before but her once hazel eyes were now brighter then Harry's. She now was wearing a navy blue, sheer dress which flowed when she twirled around, a bronze band was tied around her waist. She picked up the bottom of her dress and saw she was wearing gorgeous heels. Last, she noticed a diadem sitting on her head. It had a sparkling sapphire in the middle of the frame and had hundreds of diamonds dangling from the silver frame of the headpiece.

Harry glanced at himself in the mirror and saw that he was a lot taller and muscular. He had gained a little weight but was still as thin as a stick, (which Rowena now noticed because he was now in a tight, red armour-type set and the fact he was so thin scared her slightly) at his hip there was Godric Gryffindor's sword.

Neville nervously looked at himself in the mirror and saw he was the same height as Harry but a little less muscular. He had a canary yellow shirt on with black trousers and had a black and yellow striped cloak on. He had a bag at his hip and he opened it and held out the Hufflepuff cup.

Harry glance at Rowena and saw a frown on her face as she looked at Harry's thin figure. He looked down in embarrassment as he flushed red on his cheeks. Emma noticed this interaction with guilt as she realised Harry wasn't naturally that thin. _Why didn't I see this before?_ She questioned herself. Looking solemn, Rowena said, "What I am about to do will shock you three and the other three will be really annoyed that I did this without them, but…" Rowena trailed off and suddenly stepped out of the portrait and into the room with the three children. All of them had shock etched on their faces. Rowena (now human) made her way over to Harry and kneeled in front of him, "Harry, earlier I got a list of everyone's medical history because of Tom and his condition he was in, and on your list, it said you had lots of scars, bruises and wounds all over your body. Would you please explain how you got them?" she asked softly with tears in her eyes.

Harry looked away from Rowena immediately, not wanting to see what she must have thought about him." Harry I want to help you but I can't help you if you don't tell me how you got all of those scars and wounds." softly spoke Rowena. Harry moved his head slightly to see Rowena's face streaked with fresh tears as her warm eyes stared helplessly into Harry as she began to stroke his hair in a soothing manner. Harry initially flinched at the contact but soon felt that it comforted him. He began to tell all of them what happened at the Dursley's house and how he was always treated like he meant nothing.

Harry hadn't noticed that the other Founders had walked into the common room (all of them human now) with Professor McGonagall, and that they now all had tears leaking from their eyes as they heard Harry talking about his life at the Dursleys. Professor McGonagall angrily spat" I told Albus not to leave you with those muggles!", Harry's Head of House noticed Harry's flinch when she spat all of her words with such venom. She then continued in a soft voice, her heart-break evident in her words," I am so, so sorry Harry. Albus kept me updated about you and said you were always fine and you were loving it there and that the Dursleys were spoiling you rotten like their own son. Oh, I am going to kill Albus for this. How could he let not one but two children be hurt so badly?"

Godric then asked why Dumbledore had left Harry with those 'insufferable, no-good, child abusers who call themselves people' and McGonagall said it was because of Lily's sacrifice and that Albus- too-many-names- Dumbledore said that only Lily's own blood could look after Harry as there would be blood wards which kept Voldemort out. At this Emma came out of her trance she was in since Harry had told all of them about his childhood," Blood wards are extremely dark magic and it is illegal to put them up! A blood sacrifice is legal but putting wards up because of that sacrifice means that the sacrifice the person made was for no reason because the person the sacrifice was for will have been lifted and can be easily harmed by anyone including the person they were being shielded from."

"So, Dumbledore has done some extreme dark magic then…" Neville spoke with shock and horror. Emma nodded solemnly thinking about other things that didn't add up with Dumbledore." Harry, did Dumbledore know about the treatment the Dursleys gave you?"

"N-no…" Harry said, shaking. Rowena strode quickly across the room and enveloped Harry in a hug, comforting him. McGonagall then started to think, like about the things Dumbledore had done concerning the Heir of Gryffindor and started to tell her side of the story with Albus-too-many-names-Dumbledore. After a while everyone joined in the story telling of what had transpired under Dumbledore's influence.

This went on for many hours until Helga finally told everyone to go to bed.

* * *

 _The next day_

Tom felt that his brain had been frazzled. All he felt was pain- excruciating pain. He slowly started to open his tired eyes to reveal a bright light shining on the silver and green colours of a room.

He started down the corridor to where he heard voices.

"So, Dumbledore has been doing some very dark and misleading things over the years. And to my lions no less and the heirs of the Founders. God, I hope Albus- too- many-names- Dumbledore hasn't done anything more to my lions because he will definitely get it then!" came a thick Scottish accent.

"It's ok Harry dear, McGonagall is only angry at Dumbledore not you." came a soft voice of a woman.

"But I have been in those situations with Dumbledore so she will be mad at me…" an even softer voice said of a young boy.

"Harry I am not angry at you, not at all." The person with the Scottish accent spoke, which Tom know realised was a woman. At this moment, Tom decided to enter the room when eight pairs of eyes turned to him all concerned.

"Umm… Hi I'm Tom and can someone explain to me what is going on. Please." No-one seemed to talk to him when he first spoke because he had a sharp sort of tone to his voice but they all started to explain very carefully what had happened when he softly spoke the please.

Tom had learned that there was a young, Irish girl called Emma Byrne who was the Ravenclaw heir, a young, nervous boy called Neville Longbottom who was the heir of Hufflepuff, a young, scared looking boy called Harry Potter who was the heir of Gryffindor who was sat on the lap of a woman (a Founder) called Rowena Ravenclaw and that Rowena was married to another Founder, Godric Gryffindor, who also had an arm around Harry like Rowena. They seemed to be comforting the boy as he had a look of pure terror in his eyes and he was trembling in what Tom presumed was fear. Sat next to the Scottish woman (who he had learnt was a Professor at Hogwarts and was named Minerva McGonagall who was Deputy Head, Transfiguration teacher and the Head of Gryffindor house) was Helga Hufflepuff and her husband Salazar Slytherin.

"Tom, we would like to know who did that to you when we found you" Helga asked as she pushed an extensively long piece of parchment into Tom's hand. Tom swallowed the bile which threatened to spill out of his mouth as he read the list of all of his injuries and symptoms of different spells.

"D-Dumbledore did all of it and s-said if anyone f-found out then he would hurt me m-more. He says he wants me to be the next Dark Lord which he can defeat because he wants all the f-fame and glory." Tom stuttered. Salazar looked ready to explode with rage as his magic crackled around him in his temper, scaring Harry causing Godric to hiss at Salazar to try and calm down which Salazar told Harry he was sorry for his outburst and then turned to Tom who was now crying into Helga's shoulder as she hugged him tightly.

"Dumbledore can't get to you now you are safe." Salazar said, walking to where Helga and Tom were.

"P-promise?" Tom quivered. _What the hell has Dumbledore done to this poor kid?!_ Emma thought horrified.

"Promise." Helga whispered to Tom as he wiped away the tears leaking from his eyes.

"Wait. Won't everyone be looking for us because we are missing." Neville said worriedly.

"Don't worry about that Neville, I told that wretched Headmaster that I found you yesterday and that you were all safe." Professor McGonagall told everyone with a hint of anger edged in her voice.

"Won't he come looking for us? I mean think about it we are missing so he can't control us so he will be going mad because he doesn't know where this room is and if he doesn't know where it is then won't he be angry because you won't tell him where we are?" Emma asked curiously.

"I am not sure Emma but if he is angry that he can't control you then I will certainly lead him astray with fake information of your whereabouts." The Scottish woman replied, face covered in sadness and uncertainty.

"When are we going to reveal ourselves anyway?" The Irish girl questioned Rowena.

"Tomorrow. But there are things that you need to know first." The woman spoke sadly.

"Do not trust Dumbledore and do not trust the Weasleys apart from Percy, the twins, Bill, Charlie and Mr Weasley." Godric told them.

"Why can't we trust the Weasleys?" Harry whispered with tears in his eyes as he learnt his supposed best friend couldn't be trusted.

"They have been stealing money from a vault you don't know about Harry and Dumbledore has paid Ron, Mrs Weasley and Ginny to spy on you." Rowena answered, hugging Harry as he started to sob uncontrollably.

"What about Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall questioned the Founder.

"Dumbledore has been paying her to spy on Harry but we don't know if her loyalties lay with Harry or Dumbledore because she has been feeding Dumbledore lies but Dumbledore has allowed her to do magic outside of school her but she doesn't use her magic outside of school because she believes that it is unfair for everyone else. But I think her loyalties lay with Harry as she helped him last year." Rowena told the Gryffindor Head of House.

"It's getting late we should all go to bed now and wait to reveal ourselves tomorrow to the whole school." Emma spoke with finality, so they all headed to bed (the Founders had created extra rooms for their heirs and Professor McGonagall as they took their old rooms after an argument about sleeping arrangements).

* * *

A/N: Hello readers ,if anyone is actually reading this part, sorry that the first two chapters are really short (well to me anyway) and that is because I started writing this a couple of months ago and I just started to read the Harry Potter books again and I remembered starting to write the first couple of chapters so I will post them first then write longer chapters. Sorry if you are depressed or annoyed that the chapters are so short and I also didn't want to merge the chapters together because I thought it would mess up the story line! So, again sorry for the shortness and sorry for any mistakes with the HP knowledge, spelling or grammar.


	3. The big reveal

**Heirs of the Founders**

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages_

 _Chapter 3: The big reveal_

The next morning everyone was sitting in the common room eating breakfast that Mipsy had brought to them, talking about how they were going to reveal themselves.

"We are all going to walk into the Great Hall at lunch and we will do the talking ok?" Rowena told them all (Professor McGonagall had gone to the Great Hall because it was the first day of lessons).

"Ok" was repeated by the four heirs.

"What about me because I will be alone in Slytherin?" Tom asked concerned.

"You won't be staying in the Slytherin dorms because you can either all stay here or you can all stay in the Gryffindor dorms where we will be close by. So where would you rather stay?" Godric explained with a smile on his face when he asked his question.

The four heirs looked at each other with torn emotions evident in their eyes. Finally, Emma spoke up,"We would like to all stay in the Gryffindor dorms."

"Good! We can create rooms for all four of us so we won't be far from you all!" Helga exclaimed.

* * *

 _Lunch time_

They had all dressed into their respective school robes apart from Tom who was wearing Gryffindor robes like the other three because they had said he wouldn't be accepted in Slytherin robes.

The Founders and their heirs walked down the halls towards the Great Hall where lunch was being held, the heirs in front of the Founders.

Harry could hear the bustling of students coming from the Great Hall and couldn't wait to see the look on Dumbledore's face when he realises Harry knows about all the money he has been stealing from Harry.

The four heirs all stopped outside the Great Hall and nodded to each other as the doors of the Hall opened swiftly revealing the four heirs with smiles on their faces.

Dumbledore immediately stood up from his chair and looked at the four people who were now walking down the aisles to get to the Head table. He looked at Harry and said," Harry my boy, you had us all worried. Why don't you go and sit with Ronald and you can tell him where you were, you had him very worried."

"Is that so!" Dumbledore looked up from Harry as he heard the voice of… Godric Gryffindor and beside him were the other Founders.

"We have told our heirs what you have been doing Albus Dumbledore and I say I am ashamed of what you have done to my heir. Putting him with abusive muggles who hate magic then stealing money from a vault that he didn't even know about and then, and then you pay his friends to spy on him. But did you know Miss Granger has been feeding you lies Dumbledore? No. Well she actually is Harry's friend and was going to tell him on the train that you and Ronald can't be trusted! Then you go and pay Mrs Weasley to pretend to love him then you pay Ginevra Weasley to spy on Harry then say one day she will marry him and she will get all of his money which he didn't know about. Then you made Salazar angry by abusing his heir, Tom Riddle, then placing him under the imperius curse and thus created Lord Voldemort. You do not deserve the title of Headmaster of our school!" Godric bellowed for all of the Hall to hear.

Dumbledore now had a murderous glint in his eye as Godric finished his speech and then bellowed,"I did no such things!"

"YES, YOU DID WE HAVE SEEN THE EVIDENCE!" Rowena bellowed, scaring everyone as they had never seen her so angry before.

Ron then stood up from his seat on the Gryffindor table and walked over to Harry and told him,"I am your best friend and I would never steal anything from you! How can you believe that slimy git," Ron said pointing at Salazar,"he hates muggle-borns and for good reason they are mudbloods and shouldn't be allowed to be taught magic but he is a foul person who left a chamber with a monster inside it!"

At this point, Hermione had come over to where Ron was standing and had started to shout at him."HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT FOUL WORD! YOU ARE NOT JUST INSULTING ME BUT ALSO HARRY'S MOTHER AND I KNOW THAT HIS MOTHER WAS EXTREMELY GOOD AT MAGIC. I DON'T KNOW WHY I PRETENDED TO LIKE YOU BUT I AM SORRY THAT YOU ARE JUST A SELFISH, GREEDY PIG! I'm so, so sorry Harry. Can you forgive me?" Hermione had now turned to Harry with tears in her eyes.

"Of course, I can forgive you 'Mione." Harry said happily then Hermione ran up to him and hugged him with a smile on her face. Then Harry remembered what Godric had said," What do you mean Ginny would marry me?"

"Miss Weasley has been told by Dumbledore and her mother since she was a toddler that you would marry her and she would get all of your money because you would die at the hands of Voldemort and by then Ginevra would be pregnant with your heir and thus all your money going to her and your unborn child. How disgusting it would be to marry her because she only saw the fame you had and the fame you don't even want! Even I must agree that I would run away from her because of what she would do by running around after me like a love-sick puppy and I am the Founder of the House of bravery." Godric exclaimed.

Hermione gasped as she and the rest of the Hall realised that the four Founders were standing in the Great Hall but the only ones not fazed by the presence of the Founders were the four heirs and Professor McGonagall. Hermione began to stutter and splutter as she saw the Founder of her house standing right in front of her and she finally got herself together and said in awe,"Your Godric Gryffindor and your Rowena Ravenclaw,"she pointed at the beautiful witch,"then that must mean that you two are Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin."

"That is correct Miss Granger and I must say I am deeply impressed with your intelligence of our world even though this is only your second year in the wizarding world. I also am quite surprised that you aren't in my house of Ravenclaw."Rowena spoke with pride and a smile spread across her face which made everyone forget how angry she was a couple of minutes ago. Hermione looked up at Rowena with a wide smile and a flush on her cheeks as she heard the smartest witch say, making Harry know that she was a true friend as he felt happy for her."And you are definitely worthy of being in my house as you are incredibly brave."Godric explained with immense pride which made Hermione smile even brighter. Everything seemed to be okay at that moment and it made everyone very happy...until Snape had to ruin it like always. He stood up from his spot at the Head table and shouted at the top of his lungs,"I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU WOULD THINK THAT YOU COULD STRUT IN HERE POTTER(A/N: Prisoner of Azkaban vibes)AND ACT LIKE YOU OWN THIS PLACE BUT THIS JUST PROVES WHAT A SPOILT LITTLE BRAT OF A KID YOU ARE AND ALSO PROVES THAT YOU ARE A PAMPERED PRINCE WHO ONLY THINKS OF HIMSELF!"

At this Emma decided she had had enough of Snape and his derogatory towards Harry and every other house but his own, and that he needed to be pegged down a notch or two...or ten. She turned to Snape with a malicious glint in her eyes as her features morphed in rage and anguish which pumped through her veins as the whole Hall processed what the greasy bat of the dungeon had extremely dangerous, the Irish urge for fighting and shouting quickly consumed her and her actions as she bellowed three times as loud as the Slytherin Head of House,"WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE EVERYONE'S LIFE SO BAD BECAUSE YOU HAVE LEAD THE MOST ANNOYING,PATHETIC LIFE WHICH NO-ONE WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT BECAUSE YOU TAKE IT OUT ON US WHO CAME HERE FOR AN EDUCATION NOT SOME SORT OF BULLYING OF WORDS!YOU ARE SO PATHETIC THAT I WISH JAMES HAD LET YOU DIE IN THE LAKE WHEN HE HAD THE CHANCE!WE ARE CHILDREN FOR GODS SAKE NOT SOME ADULTS WHO CAN TAKE ALL OF YOUR WEAK INSULTS AND JEERS THAT ARE THROWN OUR WAY WITHOUT YOU EVEN LOOKING THE SLIGHTEST BIT SAY HARRY IS A SPOLIT BRAT BUT IF YOU KNEW WHAT HE HAS BEEN THROUGH THEN YOU WOULD FEEL THAT YOUR LIFE WAS THAT OF A PRINCE OF THE RICHEST COUNTRY AND THAT YOU COULD HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANTED BUT HARRY HAS HAD THE WORST LIFE AS HE HAS HAD TO GO THROUGH THINGS ADULTS WILL NEVER HAVE TO BUT HE IS TWELVE YEARS OLD AND HAS COPED WITH YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSES FOR HIS 'MISTAKES' BUT YOU HAVE CROSSED THE LINE NOW AND NO MORE!IF YOU SAY ONE MORE THING TO ANY STUDENT LIKE THAT AGAIN,THEN YOU BETTER RUN BEFORE I HEAR ABOUT IT BECAUSE I WILL COME FOR YOU AND TRACK YOU DOWN BECAUSE NO-ONE DESERVES TO BE TREATED LIKE THAT...well except maybe Ron,Ginny,Mrs Weasley, Dumbledore and Malfoy but STILL!THIS HAS TO STOP OTHERWISE I WILL STOP IT AND IT WON'T BE NICE FOR YOU!"Emma had now finished her speech and the whole school looked at her in awe, well apart from the Slytherins who looked like someone had slapped them across the face, and the Weasley twins were now clapping extremely loudly which made everyone else in the school, bar the Slytherins, to join in and they all smiled at the Irish girl with pride and awe. Snape looked like he had bitten into a lemon and had a sour expression on his face as he glared at Emma with such hatred then spat venomously,"Silence!Miss Byrne, DETENTION!YOU SHALL NOT DISRESPECT YOUR SUPERIORS!"

"What is superior about you?"retorted the quick-witted girl, making Snape look more bat like then before as he swept around the Head table and stomped across the Hall to where the Ravenclaw heir looked down at the girl as if she was something disgusting on his shoe."Detention for a week!"he spoke shrilly.

"And what makes you think I will turn up because I won't just so you know?'

"For two weeks!"

"HELL NO!"

"YOU DARE TO DISRESPECT A TEACHER-"

"OF COURSE I DARE BECAUSE I AM A GRYFFINDOR AND YOU ARE A SLIMY SNAKE!"Emma now looked ready to kill anyone who stood in her way which just so happened to be Professor greasy git then had the nerve to tell the Founders to keep the Irish girl under control which then made Rowena do something no-one that she would do-she punched Severus Snape, the greasy bat who lived in the dungeons, the biased slimy snake had not seen this coming and had no way to block himself from the raging witch whose eyes shone with staggered as he saw a fist connect to his jaw.

And then the four Founders told the whole school that they were all really the Founders and said that Salazar was deeply disappointed in his Houses' actions and how rude it had become and Godric ranted at the Gryffindors(mainly Ron,Ginny and Dumbledore) about how ashamed he was at what his house had become as 'lying, thieving spies' were in his house.

After the rants from the Founders, the whole school went back to eating their lunch as the four heirs went to sit at the Gryffindor table. Ron and Ginny came to sit with the heirs and Hermione but quickly got shot down as Emma threw multiple stinging hexes their way and for the rest of lunch everyone sent Ron, Ginny, Dumbledore and Snape glares as the four Founders sat at the Head Table and all thought that this was going to be an interesting year to say the least.

* * *

A/N:Again sorry for this being so short but this is the last of the pre-written chapters so I will be striving to create longer chapters but I am going on an overnight school trip tomorrow so I won't be able to update tomorrow but I am hoping that I will have time to create an extra long chapter for you guys on Saturday!I am really annoyed about going on this trip but my parents have made me go so this is not my fault that I have to go as I would rather write this and I know some of you will be think 'can't she just use her phone?' sadly not as the teachers said they would confiscate any electronics on the trip so again I am sorry!If I don't upload on Saturday then I will definitely update on goodbye for now and I am sorry for the shortness and any HP knowledge mistakes, spelling mistakes or/and grammar ya!


	4. Stories new and old

**Heirs of the Founders**

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages_

 _Chapter 4:Stories new and old_

After lunch was over, the whole school went to their dormitories as the Founders had told the students that there was to be no lessons for the rest of the week as they sorted out the mess at the school, much to Dumbledore's dismay. Each house exited the Great Hall with the Founder of their House and went straight to their Common rooms to talk with the Founders. Gryffindor House were the last to exit the Hall with Professor McGonagall at the front, leading the group whilst Ron and Ginny shuffled their way to the front where Neville, Tom, Hermione, Emma and Harry were, talking to each other about what had happened over the past days.

Ron and Ginny finally made it to the front which earned them glares from Fred and George as the twins were behind the heirs and Hermione and didn't want their friends to get hurt by their younger siblings who in their opinion, were incredibly stuck up and were a shame to their family as well as their mother. _How could they betray Harry! He has been nothing but sweet to us, how could they do this to him!_ Fred thought disgusted. Ron ignored Fred and George and joined Harry at his side and said to him, "Mate how could you do that to me!? I am your best friend I would never ever hurt you!"

"No Ronald you are not Harry's friend anymore. I have told him the truth about you and Ii hope he believes me." Hermione stated shyly as she still didn't believe Harry trusted her after what she had done. Harry then turned to Hermione and hugged her as he spoke softly," Of course I believe you 'Mi. I know you are my true best friend along with Neville, Tom and Emma. I know what you say is true." Hermione smiled at this as she now believed that Harry truly was her best friend but her smile quickly faded as she saw the snarl of Ron's freckled face as Harry turned around to say something to the redhead when Ron pulled his wand from his robe and pointed it at Harry. Ron opened up his mouth to utter a spell when Godric came up behind Ron and asked what was going on. ''Nothing that concerns you!" Ginny spoke up for the first time as she saw the Founder.

Godric stood up to his full height and now looked extremely intimidating as he stared down at the youngest Weasley, disgust written all over his face. "If it has something to do with my House and more importantly my heir, then I have every right to know what is going on." Godric told Ginny but everyone from Gryffindor House had heard and knew it was also meant for them as well. Ginny squeaked in fear as she darted behind Ron's back, trying to seek refuge as Ron glared at the Founder of his House. After Godric told Ron to put his wand away, the whole House started to climb the marble staircase which was located at the Entrance Hall and noticed that people from other Houses were staring at all four Founders as they climbed the staircase. All of the students kept sneaking glances at the Founders and whispered questions to one another and wondered if they were going to get rid of some of the Professors like Snape and many Ravenclaws were gloating in pride as they told the younger years of their House about Rowena and what role she played a part in when they created the school and how amazing Rowena's punch at the Potions Master was.

All the Gryffindors smirked as they saw the first and second years' gape in wonderment and awe as they heard the story of the punch and how Emma had beaten 'the greasy bat' in a verbal spar and some of the older year Gryffindors explained to the younger years what Emma had meant about some of the things she said to the 'slit git'.

Eventually, the Gryffindors reached their Common Room and sat down around the room as their Head of House and the Founder of their House conjured more chairs so everyone could sit down and listen to what they had to say. The heirs and Hermione sat nearest the fireplace where Godric and Professor McGonagall were stood. The Common Room lapsed into awkward silence as they waited for anyone to start speaking. Ron opened his mouth but was quickly cut short as the portrait door swung open to reveal the other three Founders in the hallway. The whole of Gryffindor House, bar McGonagall, Godric and the heirs, whipped their heads around and stared in shock as the three walked into the Common Room and stood next to Godric whilst the heirs smirked at the annoyed face Ron made because he was cut short of the attention he wanted. _Serves him right._ Neville thought devilishly. Immediately, murmuring flooded the room as the Founders quietly whispered to one another about what had happened with the Houses.

Emma saw that the Founders had stopped speaking and looked over the crowd of Gryffindors, waiting for them to be silent. Emma knew what to do as she knew that it would talk forever for them to shut up by themselves so she stood up on her chair and yelled, "SHUT IT!" Everyone immediately silenced as they saw Emma motion to the Founders and everyone looked away guilty as they realised they must have waited a while for them to become quiet. Helga glanced at their faces and quickly spoke a thank you and then let Godric start to talk with his House.

"I am extremely disappointed in what my House has become," seeing all of the sad and scared faces of the students he continued firmly," But I am not mad at all of you, only some of you," he glared at Ron and Ginny, who were at the back of the room far away from anyone," and there will be punishments for those who have done wrong deeds and knew that they were doing something wrong. Professor McGonagall will be handing out your punishments as she is your Head of House but be warned I will not hesitate to hand out punishments myself if I feel necessary and Rowena, Helga and Salazar won't be afraid to hand out punishments themselves to you and other Houses. Before anyone asks we will explain that we have our heirs in this room and they will all be treated the same as everyone else as they are your Housemates and hopefully your friends. My heir is Harry Potter." Godric motioned to Harry who was at in front of him and everyone turned their gaze to Harry and Harry began to shrink back as he didn't like all of the attention so Rowena took over." And my heir is Emma Byrne."

"My heir is Neville Longbottom." Helga spoke with pride in her voice as Salazar stepped forward and looked at Tom. "Finally, my heir is Tom Riddle." Ginny gasped as she realised that the name on the diary was Tom Marvolo Riddle. She started to shake as she saw Tom look down in embarrassment as he realised that she must have been the Ginny he knew. Ron gazed at his sister with horror and shock as he tried to get her to calm down but he couldn't this didn't go unnoticed by Helga as she started to explain to everyone who Tom was and how Dumbledore manipulated him. At this Ron stood up and shouted over the rowdy crowd of Gryffindors who some believed Dumbledore did manipulate Tom Riddle but the other part of the crowd didn't believe Dumbledore did it. Ron bellowed, grabbing everyone's attention, "Dumbledore would never do that. He is the leader of the light not like him," he pointed at Tom," he is the leader of the dark and you are all acting like a bunch of Slytherins because you all believe that he," Ron said again, pointing at the Slytherin heir "is not evil but he is! He has put all of you under a spell- "

Ron didn't finish his sentence as Gryffindor House turned around to see Salazar pointing his wand at the redhead and instantly the Weasley became silent. The whole room stared at him in wonder as Ginny screamed at Salazar to cut off the spell. "I do not take to kindly to being told what to do!" He shouted at Ginny. At this the youngest Weasley sat back down and started to fuss over Ron, trying to cancel the silencing charm which was placed on him. Salazar composed himself and then turned to the room which was full of confused Gryffindors, he sighed in exhaustion as he started to show evidence of what Dumbledore had done to all of the heirs and how Voldemort killed the Potters as well as everyone else whilst being imperiused by Albus. After the Founders had given evidence of Dumbledore's misdeeds Ronald spoke up as the silencing charm had worn off and told everyone that they were insane and that they were acting like Slytherins again which made Tom very angry and everyone could tell he was angry as his magic began to crackle around him and Rowena strode over to Harry as Hermione started to hug him as he shrank back in fear eventhough he knew his brother wouldn't hurt him.

Tom stomped across the room as the group of Gryffindors parted like the Red sea as he weaved through them, trying to get to the redhead. The redhead saw the heir of Slytherin coming towards and immediately blanched at the thought of how many dark curses he would know as he was the young dark lord. Tom wasn't thinking straight, his anger getting the better of him at this very moment. _This is what they think you are! The most feared wizard of all time, the wizard that hardly anyone will name properly! You are not that person, Tom! Snap out of it! Do this now and they will think that you are Him not you!_ Tom thought repeatedly. Ron showed fear in his eyes as he saw Riddle pull out his yew wand and point it at his throat with malice crossing over his features but Ron could see something else in his dark pools of his eyes. Something that he thought he would only see in someone like Neville who had low self-esteem- he saw self-loathing. Almost like Tom hated what he was doing. Almost hating what curses he could use. Almost in Ron's mind wasn't the same thing as actual hating. Ron still thought that Tom wanted to hurt him like every psychopath but Tom didn't want to hurt him even though he thought he was an absolute git.

Tom just couldn't think straight. He felt his brain telling him to do it- to hurt him but his heart told him to not do it-to the think of his new-found family. Faintly, he could hear Emma yelling at him to stop and to not do it as tears welled up in his eyes. Everything stopped for a minute as he dropped his wand and fell to the ground as tears leaked from his eyes, the whole of Gryffindor jumped out of their feared state and was by his side in seconds as Salazar and Helga, followed by the other Founders and the heirs, made their way through the crowd, wanting to know if Tom was alright. Salazar knelt down to Tom and wrapped his arms around him to comfort him as he spoke softly to him telling him that it was alright and Tom replied by grasping Salazar's robes tighter, not wanting to see everyone's faces. Helga and Rowena took Tom to the fifth-year boy dormitories as Salazar and Godric calmed everyone down by calling a house elf and asking for hot chocolate and cookies for everyone as they said it was going to be a very long time before dinner and they needed to explain very in depth about things.

After everyone had calmed down, Salazar looked over where Ron and Ginny were and saw that they hadn't touched their drink and food. "Are you not thirsty or hungry?" Salazar questioned suspiciously.

"We are not taking anything from you, you are a slimy git!" Ron said in a harsh tone which made Neville think of what Tom sounded like when they had first met him, well when he first spoke to him.

Salazar merely raised an eyebrow at the young, freckled boy as he exchanged glances with Godric, motioning his head towards the youngest Weasleys as the man of bravery had not heard what his House member had said. Godric rolled his eyes in Ron's direction as Katie Bell spoke up confidently, albeit scared, "Do you actually hate muggleborns or is it just a story because you two look like best friends- no brothers the way you talk and are around each other?"

"I don't hate muggleborns and the fight we famously had never happened. We are brothers in all but blood. He even knows of the Chamber of Secrets and I only told him, Rowena and Helga so I don't know how anyone else knows of the Chamber because I wrote a letter for a worthy heir to open the Chamber and to help my heir find his or her brother or sister, the Gryffindor heir." Salazar answered the unsure girl as the rest of the Common Room listened eagerly to the tale that Salazar presented to the group, explaining that he and Godric placed Sea Bass, or Bassie as she was called by Godric (A/N: Harriet if you are reading this then you will get this and thanks for the GREAT name for the basilisk), the basilisk in the Chamber to see if the Slytherin and Gryffindor heirs were worthy to know the information and secrets which lay behind a statue of Salazar.

Godric then asked suddenly, "Why did you name the basilisk Bassie anyway?"

"Well it all started when me and another friend were at the Hogs Head-" Salazar started before he was rudely interrupted by a certain redheaded, freckled boy.

"The Hogs Head was there when you were alive?" Ron questioned astounded.

"Yes. Now if you don't mind I was telling a story before you rudely had to slither in to the conversation just so you could get attention," at this Ron turned beet red and he sent a glare at Salazar, who returned the hardened glare with such malice, that Ron jumped back like he had been scolded by a red hot poker of some sort, "Anyway, as I was saying, it all started at the Hogs Head when me and a friend were drunk and I told him about the fact I had a pet snake that liked water," Godric sent him a hardened stare the Slytherin Founders way which Salazar immediately answered to, "I didn't tell him that it was a basilisk, I wasn't that drunk." Godric snorted and commented that it was a lie but quickly covered it up with a cough when his brother glanced at him instead of having his attention on the students. Godric gave Salazar an innocent smile and turned his head and mouthed to the Gryffindors that he was incredibly drunk which made the students, particularly the older years, snicker behind their hands and made some of them laugh out loud and earned them a quick glare by Salazar which made them shut up but some students fell into lapses of silent giggles when Godric made a face behind Salazar's back, indicating that he was just annoyed that Godric had told them the truth about that night. Salazar thought that it was best to ignore his brother for the moment and went back to telling the story. "So, we were talking all kinds of rubbish when the snake topic came up…"

 _Flashback_

 _The lingering smell of butterbeer hung thickly in the air as a group of already drunk friends burst through the door with tankards of drink in their hands, the drink cascading down the glass of the tankard. Laughing could be heard from the large group as they reached the bar and one of them, who had auburn, bushy hair and bristly beard, snorted heartedly when one of the group stumbled over a bar stool as they muttered under their breath about 'not seeing the stupid stool'. The bar tender asked what they wanted and a man with black hair and a goatee shouted out that they wanted the strongest firewhiskey they could get and the group began to simmer down with the atmosphere of the pub as the firewhiskeys were handed around to the friends, whiskey dropping on the flagged floor when the glasses were passed around._

 _The man with the goatee floated around the group, trying to find a certain person and failing miserably as it was clear he could hardly see where anyone or anything was and was stumbling around the bar area grabbing on to his friends robes as he went when he finally found the person he wanted to talk to. "Sal, you really need to hold your liqueur more instead of looking like you are going to pass out and not wake up for months upon months' end. You were saying something about a snake of some kind and that you were looking for a name for it, right?"_

" _Y-yeah." A rather drunk Salazar slurred back to the man who looked quite amused with the man's behaviour._

" _Well if it is a snake then name it something cool not something like Bassie from Sea Bass the fish because that is a dreadful name and your snake may like water but just promise me you won't name the snake something to do with the sea." The friend mocked as he and Salazar toasted to that new promise they made._

 _They talked about names some more until they all headed out of the pub and separated to their homes and Salazar and Godric started to walk back to Hogwarts, leaving Salazar's friend behind who was smirking and knowing Bassie was the only name Sal was going to remember in the morning._

 _Flashback ended_

Salazar finished his story and gazed around the room to find all of the students staring at him intently as he was suddenly bombarded with questions about the night. He answered all of the questions and felt exhausted afterwards as he commented to Godric about how blunt his House was. "Well you aren't brave if you don't ask or say something right away." Was the only reply he got. The students all seemed to quieten down after the story finished until Emma, Neville, Harry and Hermione had had enough of the silence and told everyone that they were going to check up on Tom and Percy, being a Gryffindor prefect, told them how to get in to the fifth-year boys dormitories.

Once they reached the door, after charming the stairs to let the girls access, they opened the door to find the room completely different to their dorms. The fifth-year dorms beds were made out of plush, scarlet material which had gold weaved into the bedding and curtains of the set, and had a big lion sprawled over the duvet cover. They had a huge fireplace, on the right side of the spacious room, that was made from the finest marble and had a crackling fire in the middle of it, slicing the heavy aura of the bedroom and they noticed above the mantel it had a painting of Godric with his sword which Harry instantly recognised from when Rowena showed them their appearances and their new 'official heir business' clothing.

Instead of only having their trunks as storage for all of their things, they had chests to place all of their clothes and had bigger side lockers to place extra things from trips to Hogsmeade in. Around the fire there were fluffy armchairs that were the same ones from the Common Room which were housed to two figures of women- Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff, Hermione guessed as she hadn't had a chance to see them that much at lunch as she was with Harry, Emma, Neville, Tom and her friend Scarlett, another bright, young witch with exceptional skills for charms and potions, so she wasn't sure if it was the two female Founders but quickly deduced that they were as she moved her gaze from the chairs to one of the beds where Tom lay there motionless, Madam Pomfrey leaning over him. _Oh no!_ was all Hermione that over and over again. What had happened?...

* * *

A/N:Oh no what has happened to Tom?!...You will just have to find out. This chapter is the longest out of the now four chapters with 3,531 words! WOW! That is a lot for me especially since I went on a trip and have been asleep pretty much the whole time. I want to say thank you to my friend Harriet for creating the name Bassie for the basilisk and thanks to me for extending that name to Sea Bass. Sorry for any HP knowledge, spelling or grammar mistakes. P.S I am hoping to post a new chapter once or twice a week.


	5. Questions and answers

**Heirs of the Founders**

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages_

* * *

 _Chapter 5:Questions and answers_

Two days later they all found out what was wrong with Tom. Tom's magic was unstable. This had happened as he was in the diary and when his magical aura formed around him it exhausted him greatly. This wasn't the only thing that had happened. Emma's parents had owled her and told her that they would be moving back to Dublin as Emma's dad worked at the Irish Ministry and they needed him back. She was also told that she would be transferring schools. The friends all said their goodbyes the morning she was going but she assured them that they didn't need her for information as they had Hermione for that and had Harry for bravery whilst Neville was there to show them the right path and Tom was there so they all wouldn't do something so drastically stupid. They had all said Emma was important too but she argued this as she told them she was just the Ravenclaw heir and that someone else deserved such an honour.

Rowena was upset that her heir was leaving but had got a letter from Emma the morning after she had left. It read:

 _Dear Rowena,_

 _Me leaving shouldn't worry anyone at all. To be honest no one will probably miss me. I have gone to Gringotts in Dublin and they said Hermione could become the Ravenclaw heir if you prove who you are and blood adopt Hermione making you Hermione's magical guardian._

 _Make Hermione your heir. She has a great thirst for knowledge and deserves your guidance and also deserves the title of your heir._

 _Hope Tom is doing alright and tell everyone I said hi._

 _Love, Emma_

 _September 5_ _th_

Harry woke up to see the sun peeking through the curtains hanging from his bed. He reached for his glasses on his bedside table but couldn't find them. _Great._ He mentally groaned. At this point he realised he must have fallen asleep with his glasses on as he could see perfectly. _I am so not fully awake at the moment. Awkward face palm moment there Harry._

Harry reached his hands up to cover his eyes as Neville opened the hangings of the bed to reveal a lot of sunlight. Too much sunlight for Harry's eyes anyway. "Morning." Neville chirped happily.

"Morning." Harry grumbled, yawning in the process. Neville smirked as he noticed Harry must have just woken up. "What time is it?" Harry questioned still grumbling.

"7:30." Neville replied, not missing a beat. Harry groaned as he mumbled that he was going back to sleep but Neville quickly jumped on his bed, shaking him, telling him that the Founders requested everyone at breakfast early as they had a long session of talking to do finally got up after Neville, Dean and Seamus thought it would be fun to drag Harry out of bed, literally.

 _At the Great Hall_

Godric, Rowena, Salazar and Helga were stood at the front of the Hall with the student body and the staff all seated at tables (the staff had a small table in front of the students). The chatter started to die down as Professor McGonagall amplified her voice and told the school to quieten down, accomplishing it in an instant. Salazar thanked the Head of House and motioned to Helga to start talking. "You are all here because we all know you have a lot of questions and we want to answer them as best we can." Helga told the school with a smile. Rowena decided it was her turn to speak and told the school they would pick Houses to ask questions. Rowena chose Hufflepuff to ask questions first and immediately half of the House had their hands up waiting patiently. Salazar chose a young, nervous looking boy who appeared to be in his first year.

"H-How did you come back to life?" He nervously asked.

"When we created the school, we knew we all had to die someday so I started to search extensively for anyway I could to see if there was a way to protect our memories and our bodies in. With the help of Helga, Godric and Salazar it only took us three years to figure out a spell to enchant paintings with memories but we knew we didn't want to be a painting with memories and not learn anything new. I searched across the whole wizarding world to find any spell or potion that could help someone come back to life. We had no luck until Godric mentioned getting a sword built for himself by the Goblins that I realised the Goblin race have extensive Rune magic which has to do with the dead. It took a while but I got them to agree to help me with a spell which would only work when all heirs to the Founders were in a room where our paintings with our memories were." Rowena explained after having to think about the answer as she sifted through her memories of the many years it took her to find the solution. Rowena then chose a girl who was called Susan Bones and she asked, "How did all four of the heirs end up in the same room because no one saw them on the train?"

It was Salazar's turn to answer the question as the whole student population and even the staff turned their gaze to the Founders. "We also created another spell to identify magical cores and blood as everyone went close to the barrier. You had to be at least three feet or less near the wall for the spell to identify you. We get a list of all of the students and what level their core is and if they have any of our blood pumping through their veins. So that is why they weren't on the train." Salazar addressed the Hall with an air of uncertainty as he didn't know when or if Dumbledore, Snape or the Weasleys were going to snap at him. Everyone was silent as the processed the answer the Founder gave as hands from the Hufflepuff table started to shoot up into the air. Salazar chose a girl in her sixth year who said that everyone was in a panic as she retold what had happened. "The Professors were running everywhere when we saw Ron alone with Hermione and Harry wasn't there. The Headmaster told us not to worry but his expressions told us that something was wrong and Hermione looked like she was going to cry so after dinner a few of us," she moved her hand to indicate a few more Hufflepuffs, "went to talk with Hermione and she explained that Harry hadn't been on the train and Ron had used his dad's car to get to school. She also said that all the staff and the Weasleys were looking for Harry but they couldn't find him. The next day at breakfast Dumbledore asked us all if we had seen Harry but of course no one had so his expressions changed into what looked like sadness at the time but now we know it must have been one of anger as Helga explained what the Headmaster has done. We talked to Hermione again but Dumbledore found us this time and he said he needed to talk to Hermione but I wish we hadn't left because we don't know what he has done to her. Anyway, where were you? And where is Emma?"

Godric decided to answer the girl as Dumbledore stood up and was about to protest about what the girl had said about him when Salazar waved his hand and Dumbledore disappeared with a faint popping noise. Everyone stared at the Slytherin creator as though he was the devil and he just killed an angel. Godric asked what he had done and Salazar replied, "I put him in the dungeons. He deserves it." Great.

"Anyway, we were in the Founders tower where all four of us lived when we first created Hogwarts. Emma has had to transfer schools as her dad works for the Irish ministry and he has been called back to Ireland." Godric explained.

He asked if the Hufflepuff table had any more questions and they had none so he chose the next house. He chose Gryffindor though that was not a surprise for everyone. At first no one put their hand up till Hermione put her hand up as far as she could. Salazar picked her, well she was the only one to pick, and Hermione simply asked, "What do you mean Tom's magic is unstable?" Tom was sat across from Hermione and looked down at his unfinished breakfast in embarrassment. Hermione noticed this and blushed beet red as she realised he probably didn't want it known about his condition.

Helga and Rowena saw this and mentally decided that they would talk about this later with Tom. Godric and Salazar seemed totally oblivious to Tom and Hermione's exchange and Salazar answered the question very simply. "When someone's magic is unstable it means that if he loses control over his magic or he has a major magical outburst or even uses his magic excessively then he will become exhausted and if he pushes himself he could become unconscious or seriously hurt himself. He can perform basic magic in classes but nothing too advanced because of the consequences that could happen." Salazar finished his answer and saw that Tom was looking down at the table not wanting to see everyone who was staring at him, zoning in on him.

Hermione felt even worse now as it seemed everyone was pitying Tom. She knew he didn't want their pity. Tom just wanted them to see him like everyone else. Rowena continued Salazar's answer, explaining that Tom's magic would become stable in due course but no one knew exactly when it would happen. Again, nearly everyone zoned in on Tom and had a little bit of hope in their eyes as they thought his magic would become stable. Almost everyone. The Slytherins clearly didn't know or realise who Tom was otherwise they would actually be paying attention to the other Founders apart from Salazar.

Hermione shared a knowing glance at Harry and Neville then jerked her head slightly at the Slytherin table. Harry scowled at the students dressed in green as he saw some of them pretend to faint in a mocking way. Neville quickly caught on to what the other students were doing and muttered a body binding curse at the Slytherins. The others swivelled their heads around to try and see who had shot the curse but Neville had stowed away his wand and the three were in lapses of snickers and giggles which drew the attention of the whole Hall to them.

The three immediately stopped as they saw the pointed stare from their Head of House until Harry heard a thud coming from the Slytherin table and saw that one of the cursed students had fallen from the bench. Harry immediately began to laugh out loud which echoed through the Hall then Hermione and Neville saw the student trying to heave themselves back up on to the bench and failing miserably. Soon the noise of three laughing students could be heard from the highest towers by the ghosts who wondered what was so funny.

The ghosts all met together at the marble staircase and Helena Ravenclaw decided the Weasley twins had done something again. Oh, how wrong she was. The Weasley twins stared at the three students and both glanced at where Harry was jerking his head at and soon the whole of the Hall was in tears of laughter as the Weasley twins shouted out what the Slytherin student was trying to do. The only people who were being extreme party poopers were the Slytherins. Again. Snape stormed over to his student who was now flailing on the floor wildly and grumbled the counter curse and whipped his head around to the Gryffindor table.

Neville, Harry and Hermione beamed at Snape as the bat moved swiftly across the stoned floor and grabbed Neville's shoulder, swivelling him around as Neville had decided to talk with Tom who was no longer embarrassed or felt alienated. Snape snarled at Neville as he spat, "I know it was one of you lot so who was it?" No one from the lion table responded. Snape's beetle coloured eyes swept over the crowd, narrowing them as he scanned for any hints of guilt in their features. The bat snapped his head to look at the Great Hall doors which had been opened by a gust of wind.

But that wasn't what opened it. The four Founders turned towards the doors and stopped scolding the Slytherins for their behaviour. Everyone's blood ran cold as a huge gust of wind blew into the Hall, freezing everyone where they were. Well, making their blood run cold and shivers to creep up their spine as they had already stopped moving. Snape let go of Neville from the bone crushing hold he had him in and cautiously swept to the doors, robe billowing behind him. All of a sudden, the dungeon bat was on his butt as four forms stormed into the Hall. Snape's eyes grew big as he slowly turned his head to see the four forms walking towards the Gryffindor table.

The forms were analysing the faces, trying to find someone. Eventually, they stopped in front of the Gryffindor heir. The forms weren't of humans but of animals and they had a silvery glow to them. Mist swirled around the figures as the Salazar looked over the forms. "They're all are a patronus…" He trailed off as he saw Snape murmur something incoherent. McGonagall stared at the four forms. One was a wolf, another a dog, the next a stag and the last… a doe.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry if this chapter seems short is extremely late! I wrote this chapter then read the new reviews and decided to re-write this. Then I didn't like that chapter either so this is what I came up with finally. Don't worry there will be a second part where more questions will be asked! Feel free to leave any questions for the story and leave a review for me to help me with any helpful hints or tricks because I know I am not the best like J. as she is our Queen but I do wish I could write like her. But sadly I can't write like her so I make MISTAKES. Anyway, who do you think the patronuses belong to? Is patronuses even a word? Is it patronuses or patronus'? Anywho, see you guys later!


	6. Big actions

**Heirs of the Founders**

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages_

* * *

 _Chapter 6: Big actions_

Harry stared cautiously at the silver forms as Hermione looked intrigued at the thought of learning about this new piece of information. Harry wracked his brain to try and find where he had seen the stag and doe forms before but he couldn't clearly see the image. The doe form tilted its head from side to side, examining Harry. The stag did the same until the stag form started to speak.

"Harry if these patronus' are here that means that you know you are the heir of Gryffindor like I was. Harry, we all love you so much!" Harry's eyes started to water as he remembered the forms in front of him. The stag was his dad, James and the doe his mother, Lily. The Founders all tried to recall when they had last seen the heir of Gryffindor before Harry and Godric summoned the list of names. They read the list and found that the last heir of Gryffindor was James Potter. Rowena and Godric made their way to where Harry was and started to hug him as tears fell on to his cheeks.

The doe form spoke softly, "Harry, sweetheart, we love you very much and we wish we could be with you every single day. Your father and I knew that we would end up dying because Peter Pettigrew betrayed us and told Voldemort where we were. Currently you are playing with your godfather Sirius. SIRIUS DO NOT LET MY SON ON THAT BROOMSTICK OTHERWISE I WILL SHOVE THAT SOMEWHERE ELSE! Sorry about that sweetheart but your godfather is trying to get you on a broomstick with the help of your dad. Yes, I see you too James." Chuckles spread through the Hall as the voice of Lily boomed across the room. The dog patronus turned its head to Lily's and muttered something about fiery redheads. James' patronus ducked its head in shame as Lily scolded him infront of the entire school. The wold patronus sighed in relief when the doe form stopped scolding the two other patronus'.

The wolf turned its head to Harry and spoke calmly, "Harry you may not remember me by the time you hear this but I am Remus Lupin but you always called me Uncle Moony. Harry if you remember a guy called Peter Pettigrew then try to find him because he is Lily and James' secret keeper which means if they have died then it is his fault. He is an illegal animagus and his form is a rat. If you can find him then turn him in to the Ministry and I know for a fact Sirius will be locked up in Azkaban for the betrayal of your parents so get him out of that rancid place. I would tell the Ministry that Sirius is innocent but they won't listen to me because of my 'furry little problem' so they officials won't listen to me." Everyone heard the doe scoff in annoyance as noises of disgust could be heard from the Slytherin table who quickly shut up as they got a sharp glare from Salazar.

"The Ministry officials don't know what they are doing in letting muggleborns and creatures have hardly any rights! It sickens me! One day this will all catch up with them when all of the creatures and muggleborns will want to tear down the Ministry and they will succeed at it at the rate this war with Voldemort is going. Why do people have to be so prejudice anyway? What the hell have we done for them to hate us? All we want is to be treated equally, is that too much to ask?!" Lily hissed. The dog chuckled slightly as he theorised what would happen if Lily waltzed in to the Ministry and started to shout at them about their laws. Everyone in the Hall found Sirius' theory quite amusing except for Ronald. The redheaded twit stood up and barked, "Why should we, the superior purebloods, have the same rights as you lowly mudbloods! It's absurd!"

Ginny had tears in her eyes and was trying to pull her brother down from the bench as Hermione reminded Ronald that the patronus' were already made years ago and that blood status didn't matter. The Founders and heirs thought that it was odd how Ginny was telling her brother to stop talking about purebloods being superior as they all thought the young girl was against muggleborns like her brother. It confused Hermione greatly that Ginny was pleading with her brother to stop his rambling and Hermione thought she seemed embarrassed by his actions. Not even playing the part of a pureblood witch. Hermione always remembered how Malfoy slandered her because of her parents and she clearly remembers Pansy Parkinson act the exact opposite of how Ginny is acting about another pureblood discriminating muggleborns. The whole Hall was extremely confused about what was going on.

Ron started to shake off Ginny's hands from his robes as Ginny let out a heart wrenched sob. She promptly stood up with tear tracks prominent on her small face. She turned to face her brother with anger in her eyes as she bellowed, "I HATE YOU RONALD WEASLEY! I ABSOLUTELY HATE YOU! DON'T EVEN THINK YOU CAN TALK TO ME AGAIN! FROM NOW ONE YOU ARE NO LONGER MY BROTHER AND I REFUSE TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED AS YOUR SISTER BUT I AM STILL A WEASLEY IN MY OWN RIGHT!" At this the young girl stormed out of the Great Hall, wiping fresh tears from her face as all pointed stares followed her out of the room. The patronus' had now vanished and Snape seemed to have remembered that he was still alive as he stared at where the four patronus' had once stood. It now seemed everyone was either confused or astounded at what had just gone on and some seemed so perplexed, like Crabbe and Goyle, it looked like their heads were about to explode with all the information they had just gathered.

Harry still sat crying with Rowena and Godric at the Gryffindor table whilst muttering from around the Hall filled the gapped silence. Salazar looked around the room and decided that they would continue their little session of questions and answers. "Alright everybody we will continue to answer your questions as best we can. Especially with all of this new information." Salazar told the school.

Hermione's hand shot up first, to nobody's surprise, and she asked what a patronus was. Rowena, who was sitting next to the smart witch, explained that a patronus was a representation of the caster's soul. She then went on to explain that a patronus was protector against dementors and could only be made by an extremely happy memory. Hermione then asked about the messages they had heard and Godric explained that Merlin had found out that you could send messages through the forms with very much dedication and strength. At this a student from Ravenclaw stated that Dumbledore had said he had found out about the messages which Helga quickly dismissed and said Merlin had come to Hogwarts to see what they had done and the Founders explained to the students and teachers, who were in awe that Merlin had come to their school, that the great wizard showed them all how to create a patronus and how to send messages with it. Ron seemed to have enough of this explanation and told everyone that they were crazy and Dumbledore had found out about the messaging and Neville countered that by stating that the Founders wouldn't know so much about the messages if they hadn't already known about them when they were alive since paintings wouldn't learn new things as they were only memories. Ron shut up at that and stormed out of the room hissing that they were all going to be in trouble with Dumbledore when he got out of the dungeons which made the twins fake their fear and said, "Oh no what will we ever do!" And they both mocked their younger brother by faking fainting which made everyone, including the teachers apart from Snape, laugh at their antics.

Ron left the Hall seething and had an ugly sneer on his face which Tom commented that he must have been having sneering lessons with Snape to achieve that level of ugliness. This made the group of friends fall into silent lapses of giggles as the Q and A session continued for another hour until the Founders decided that it was a lovely day and that everyone should enjoy it. This brought many cheers from the students as they could do whatever including Quidditch which made the Gryffindors extremely happy. Oliver Wood then ranted about how the team could get a goof head start by practising for the season already which made the whole team groan in annoyance as the Weasley twins started to poke each other with their wands, pretending to duel.

The whole team, bar Oliver, were snickering as the Weasley twins mimicked Wood's infamous long speech but they all stopped snickering as they saw a blonde hair kid charging towards the Lions.

"Bet you loved that didn't you Potter!" Malfoy drawled annoyingly. The Quidditch team girls all rolled their eyes as Malfoy's face contorted into a look of smug triumph. Hermione, Neville and Tom had caught up to the Team- they had just been to talk to Professor McGonagall about their classes- and didn't hide their look of pure annoyance when they saw the young Slytherin and the two thick headed bodyguards. "Malfoy I am sure in the book on 'How to be a pureblooded bigot', it says that you mustn't stare at someone because that person could think you are a creep and you are being quite rude!" Hermione remarked as she saw Malfoy staring with wide eyes at Tom. Malfoy seemed to be brought out of his weird staring trance as he snapped his head to Hermione and countered, "No one asked your opinion mudblood!"

Many gasps were heard throughout the courtyard of the school as the Gryffindors wands were out in one swift movement, terrifying the Slytherins around as they saw Tom made his way to the front of the group, wand in hand and pointing it at Malfoy's heart.

"Be careful what you say Malfoy because you never know when someone will hex you when your back is turned." Tom hissed dangerously. The Slytherins gulped loudly as the Lions backed away from the scene and headed towards the whomping willow.

Harry was holding a sobbing Hermione as they walked down the steps to get to the tree. "It's okay 'Mione. Don't listen to him. He is just jealous of you being better then him, that's all." Harry whispered encouragingly to her. The group of friends made it their mission to cheer Hermione up but all had failed until Harry took her away to the Lake where he sat down with her and conjured some sandwiches for them to eat.

"Thanks." Hermione whispered through sobs.

Harry pushed back her hair so that it was behind her ear and began to wipe her tears falling down her face. "Pretty girls don't deserve to cry." Harry told her with a sad look in his eyes.

"W-what?" Hermione whispered, now looking at Harry. Harry's eyes widened as he realised what he had just said and then told her that he meant what he had said. But Harry couldn't work out why he had said it. Was he just being the best friend he was or was there something else?

Harry decided that he would think about the weird rolls his stomach was doing when he looked at Hermione after he had cheered her up.

Hermione gazed into Harry's eyes with a curious look. _God his eyes are the most beautiful things I have ever seen! He is so cute when he blushes._ Hermione realised what she had just thought and immediately stuttered to Harry that she should go and finish her homework and got up to leave.

Harry knew that they hadn't got any homework because they hadn't had any lessons yet so got up and chased Hermione back to the castle, passing their friends on his way. "Hermione wait!" He panted as he reached for her hand and tugged her towards him.

Hermione and Harry both felt a spark when they touched hands and Hermione was the first to realise it. Her gaze snapped to Harry as he felt his body slowly coming closer to her. She stared into Harry's eyes and knew she had to talk to Rowena and Helga about what she was feeling as it confused her. _God what am I supposed to say to him now?!_ Hermione thought desperately.

And before she knew what she was doing she leaned forward and brought hers and Harry's lips together.

Harry's mind whirled around when he felt his best friend lean forward towards him and knew that nothing was going to stop him from seeing the smile that graced Hermione's face when she pulled back from the kiss. Her face immediately changed into a look of sheer panic.

Hermione did the only thing she knew she shouldn't do. She ran.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry that this took a week to finish but I will have more time to post new chapters soon as I will finish for the summer next week. YAY! So the chapters will either be longer or their will be shorter chapters of around 1,000 words and they will hopefully be posted twice a week. I might do a mixture of both. I want to know what you think about Harmione. Do you want them to get passed the kiss and stay friends or do you want them to be more then friends? Sorry for any of you that want Harry and Hermione to end up with different people! What do you think has got Ginny in a twist? Is it Ron or is it something deeper? The mystery continues...


	7. Gringotts

**Heirs of the Founders**

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages_

* * *

 _Chapter 7: Gringotts_

Rowena was walking down the halls when a figure of a small girl ran into her. A sorry was muttered by the girl who looked up and saw who they had run into.

"Hello Hermione." Rowena greeted kindly, eyeing Hermione suspiciously. _What is wrong with her? She never runs in the corridors._ Rowena thought curiously.

Hermione picked herself off the floor and pulled down her skirt, brushing off dust that had been collected from the collision. "Hermione is something wrong?" Rowena asked worriedly as she saw that Hermione had red puffy eyes.

"N-no. Nothing is wrong." The girl answered unsurely, averting Rowena's deep eyes. Rowena nodded. They dropped into uncomfortable silence until Hermione spoke again, tears threatening to spill over her eyes.

"It's Malfoy. He called me a mudblood and I got really offended by it and Neville, Tom and Harry tried to help me calm down but I saw Malfoy again and ran away." Hermione half lied. Again, Rowena nodded but didn't seem convinced. Rowena looked at Hermione with pity as she decided she needed to talk to the others about bullying. Hermione faintly heard the witch mutter a quick okay and she turned away and started to go down the corridor.

Rowena remembered something and turned the way Hermione had started to walk down and called out. "Hermione!" The witch turned around and bit her lip anxiously. "I want you to come with me and Helga to Diagon Alley. Do you want to go now or we could go a different time?" Rowena continued on, waiting nervously for Hermione's answer.

Hermione hesitated with her answer, debating whether or not she wanted to be alone or not. Eventually, she nodded her head, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she decided it would be good to clear her mind. Rowena led her to the Founders Tower-as promptly named by Salazar and Godric- where Helga was huffing and puffing exasperatedly as she was trying to stop Godric and Salazar from poking with each other with their wands.

"Will you two stop!" Helga hissed, "You two have just got your wands back and you are already annoying me. I am surprised you haven't destroyed half the castle! You are such children!" Rowena and Hermione giggled as Helga shot stinging jinxes at the two men who were running down the corridor to the sleeping quarters. "Sorry about that, they are just being…" Helga tried to find the right word to describe the two friends but failed.

"Their usual selves just with wands?" Rowena prompted and Helga gave a sigh of displeasure, sitting down in one of the chairs. Hermione tried to fight back her giggles as she could hear Godric and Salazar pretending to fire hexes at each other, making Rowena and Helga both sigh in irritation.

"Anyway, Hermione has agreed to coming to Diagon Alley with us!" Rowena told a now red in the face Helga. Helga immediately perked up at this and ran to the fireplace and got the floo powder pot whilst Rowena explained to Hermione how to use floo powder to get to places.

* * *

Soon all three witches were standing in the floo area of Diagon Alley. There weren't many people in Diagon Alley as normal because all of the children were at school but the people who were there turned and gawped when they saw Rowena and Helga roaming the streets. Hermione felt very odd as she stared at all of the shocked faces around her. _Clearly word hasn't gotten out that that Founders are back then. I bet there will be a field day with the Prophet about them being back._ Hermione thought as a smile was plastered across her face at her thoughts. Hermione, Helga and Rowena were outside Gringotts Bank very quickly. A confused look etched onto the young witch's face. _Why are we her? Maybe then just want to get money._ Hermione thought notably.

There were marble pillars lining the Main Hall of the bank where Goblins sat looking at blood red rubies, dazzling golden coins and recording people's intakes and outtakes of the witches and wizards in the bank. Surprisingly, no Goblins looked up when Helga and Rowena passed but, like on the streets, witches and wizards stared gobsmacked when the two Founders swept passed, heading towards the head desk.

Like all of the other Goblins, the Goblin at the desk didn't look up from his writings when the women came to a stop infront of the busy worker.

Helga coughed politely. The Goblin jerked his head up and didn't looked surprised when he saw Rowena and Helga. The Goblin smiled toothily. Almost like a shark.

"Welcome Lady Hufflepuff, Lady Ravenclaw. Director Ragnok will is waiting for you in his office. One of the Goblins will take you there. Griphook!" The Goblin called for the younger Goblin who rapidly walked up to the group and motioned for them to follow him.

They followed him down many marble corridors. The sun gleamed through shards of glass that were in the roof, creating dark corners of the vast hallway.

Eventually, they arrived at a door that had a plaque on that read:

 _Director Ragnok, Head of Gringotts Bank_

Griphook pushed the ornate oak doors open and revealed a lavish office.

Bookshelves lined the back wall with books neatly in row on the oak shelves. Emerald coloured marble covered the floor. _The same colour as Harry's eyes._ Hermione flushed as the thought of Harry crossed her mind. _I will definitely need to talk to someone about that._

A Goblin was seated at a dark ebony desk which had leaves carved into the wood, creating an elegant to the neat room. The Goblin looked up. His blue eyes looked over the three with a calculating look. He nodded in what seemed satisfaction when Rowena and Helga bowed their heads slightly, indicating Hermione do the same.

"Lady Hufflepuff, Lady Ravenclaw it is lovely to see you again after these many years." He smiled. Well as close as a smile a Goblin could pull. "Leave us Griphook."

Griphook bowed his head and headed out into the corridor, closing the carved doors on his way.

Director Ragnok inclined his head towards Hermione and spoke clearly, "You must be Miss Granger."

It wasn't a question. Hermione nodded her head slightly. Ragnok motioned for the group to sit in the green chair, which were set in front of the desk, and began to rifle through the stack of papers on his desk.

Hermione felt very uncomfortable. It wasn't because she hadn't dealt with Goblins before. Oh no. She was uncomfortable because she didn't know how she fit into this and how Director Ragnok knew who she was. Hermione was pulled from her thoughts as she heard Ragnok speak in a soft voice, surprising her.

"You sent us a letter stating that you wanted to blood adopt Miss Granger. Is that correct Lady Ravenclaw?"

 _That explains how he knows who I am! Wait. Did he just say BLOOD ADOPT!?_

Rowena nodded.

"Good." Ragnok spoke. He nodded to one of the Goblin guards at the door.

The door swung open to reveal Griphook. He waddled his way towards the desk and placed 3 pieces of parchment and a dagger in front of the group then swiftly left the office.

Ragnok pointed at the pieces of parchment as Hermione sent the Goblin a quizzical look.

Rowena picked up the dagger and pricked her index finger (A/N: I don't know why I was very particular about this but still) and let three ruby coloured drops of her blood fall onto the parchment.

In a couple of seconds words formed on the parchment:

 _Name: Rowena Ravenclaw-Pureblood_

 _Mother: Catriona Carson Ravenclaw_ (A/N: I couldn't find her mother's name so looked up Scottish names and thought that the name would suit her mother) _-Pureblood_

 _Father: Aindreas Ravenclaw_ (A/N: Again, couldn't find a name for Rowena's father so found a Scottish name and ran with it) _-Pureblood_

 _Daughter: Helena Ravenclaw-Pureblood_

 _Vaults:_

 _Vault 3: 10,276,231 Galleons 234,858 Sickles 3,456 Knuts_

 _Heir Vault Number 6: 5,500,000 Galleons 10,000 Sickles 5,000 Knuts_

 _Trust Vault Number 9: 50,000 Galleons per school year 5,000 Sickles per school year 2,500 Knuts per school year_

 _Ravenclaw Vault Number 21: 100,245,678 Galleons 2,045,460 Sickles 534,682 Knuts_

 _Vault Items:_

 _Vault 3: 6,785 Heirlooms 10,045 Books 25 Robes 37 Relics 3 Wands_

 _Heir Vault Number 6: 10 Heirlooms 350 Books 3 Robes 1 Wand_

 _Ravenclaw Vault Number 21: 56,238 Heirlooms 75,573 Books 73 Robes 138 Relics 5 Wands_

 _Properties_

 _¼ of Hogwarts Castle, Scotland_

 _Ravenclaw Castle, Scotland_

 _Ravenclaw Cabin, Holland_

 _Ravenclaw Mansion, Ireland_

Hermione gazed at the parchment as Helga picked up the dagger and copied Rowena's actions. Again, words started to form on the parchment:

 _Name: Helga Hufflepuff-Pureblood_

 _Mother: Anwen Jones Hufflepuff_ (A/N: Like with Rowena I don't know Helga's parents' names so I searched up Welsh names) _-Pureblood_

 _Father: Aron Hufflepuff-Pureblood_

 _Vaults:_

 _Vault 4: 7,234,642 Galleons 434,297 Sickles 3,087 Knuts_

 _Heir Vault Number 8: 4,500,000 Galleons 8,000 Sickles 4,000 Knuts_

 _Trust Vault Number 12: 50,000 Galleons per school year 5,000 Sickles per school year 2,500 Knuts per school year_

 _Hufflepuff Vault Number 27: 70,341,967 Galleons 3,0978,298 Sickles 756,235 Knuts_

 _Vault Items:_

 _Vault 4: 4,264 Heirlooms 27 Robes 62 Relics 5 Wands 147 Books_

 _Heir Vault Number 8: 23 Heirlooms 3 Robes 32 Books 2 Wands_

 _Hufflepuff Vault Number 27: 36,826 Heirlooms 357 Books 92 Robes 362 Relics 17 Wands_

 _Properties:_

 _¼ of Hogwarts Castle, Scotland_

 _Hufflepuff Mansion, Wales_

 _Hufflepuff House, Germany_

Helga glanced expectantly at Hermione and gave her a slight nod towards the dagger that Director Ragnok placed in front of the young witch.

Hermione bit her lip, not sure whether or not she should do it.

Rowena exchanged a grimace with Helga when Hermione, trembling, picked up the bloodied dagger and pricked her finger, pain clearly seen over her face.

Words formed onto the parchment like with Rowena and Helga:

 _Name: Hermione Jean Granger-Muggleborn_

 _Mother: Jean Granger_ (A/N: Again, Hermione's parents' names were never mentioned so I got the names for them through other fanfics and my own imagination) _–Muggle_

 _Father: Dan Granger-Muggle_

 _Vaults:_

 _None_

Director Ragnok took the filled parchments from the seated group and called a Griphook again, asking to take Hermione, Helga and Rowena down to the Ravenclaw vault.

The ride was longer than expected as the Ravenclaw was lower underground.

When they got there Rowena explained to Hermione that only a witch or wizard with the Ravenclaw ring, or Ravenclaw blood, were able to open the vault.

Rowena placed her hand where the Ravenclaw crest was on the door, and pushed the crest into the wall, opening the vault.

Hermione gawped at the sight of the vault.

The walls were lined with a long, sapphire tapestry which had names and pictures of every Ravenclaw there ever was. Helga and Rowena stayed in the door way as Hermione caressed her fingers across the fabric.

"Why are there burns on some of the faces?"

Rowena walked to where Hermione was standing and whispered in a sad note, "Some people in our family did something despicable and they were disowned."

Hermione whipped her head around to face Rowena with a look of pure horror on her face. She was going to ask what they had done but decided against it as Rowena's face scrunched up into a look of pain.

 _It must have been really bad if she has that look on her face._ Hermione thought solemnly. Hermione nodded her head in a quick understanding and moved deeper into the vault.

Paintings hung on one of the back walls, witches and wizards sleeping in their frames. But one wizard drew Hermione closer to their painting.

The wizard was old and wizened with long white hair like Dumbledore's. _He looks almost exactly the same as Dumbledore but wiser._ Hermione thought with a hint of disbelief.

Hermione reached out her hand but quickly retracted it as the wizard's eyes opened to reveal dazzling green eyes. The wizard smiled warmly at the young witch and spoke with a hint of pride.

"You must be one of my descendants. Yes definitely. Brown hair, smart, a thirst for knowledge- you must definitely be my heir."

Hermione felt a flush tinge her cheeks as she responded, "I-I'm not one of your descendants. I'm a muggleborn, sir."

The wizened wizard squinted his eyes at the girl, almost like he didn't trust her, and then asked her, "Do you know who I am?"

"N-no." Hermione wracked her brain to try and figure out who he was. She moved her eyes rapidly over the painting to try and find a clue to who he was. Then she found it.

"Y-your Merlin!" Hermione whispered astounded. Merlin gave her a nod and proceeded to ask what her name was.

"I'm Hermione, sir."

"No need to call me sir. I always hated it when one of Arthur's knights called me sir, no matter how many times I told them to call me Merlin." Hermione giggled as Merlin told her funny stories of the knights of the round table and what they got up to in their spare time.

"I see someone found the painting area."

Hermione gasped in shock as she turned around and saw Rowena making her way to where they were.

"Rowena is that you? I have not seen you in so long. I hope you will blood adopt this girl- she is very intelligent and perfect to be your heir." Merlin doted over Hermione some more until Rowena saw fit to explain to Merlin what had happened.

Merlin's face went through a range of emotions when Rowena retold the story. Finally, Merlin's face settled on a sour look and said menacingly, "I don't like this Dumbledork fellow. He messes with too many things that he shouldn't and it seems he is trying to be like myself. I DO NOT TAKE TOO KINDLY TO THAT!"

Hermione and Rowena laughed at Merlin when he started to mutter things under his breath which sounded a lot like ways to prank Dumbledore.

Eventually, Helga and Director Ragnok came over to where the group were, carrying two blue bowls with the Ravenclaw crest embedded in them.

Ragnok summoned a table and placed the two bowls onto the wooden surface.

Helga had gone to get the ritual dagger and came back and handed it to Rowena.

"I, Lady Ravenclaw, will my family magic to recognise this witch, Hermione Granger, and accept her as a Ravenclaw and accept her as my heir." Rowena slashed her palm and let the blood pool into the bowl infront of her.

A dark, scary raven and eagle erected from the bowl and swirled around Hermione, each bird looking her up and down, determining whether or not she should be accepted into the family. Eventually, both of the birds twisted around each other and created one big raven. The raven wrapped its wings around Hermione, accepting her.

Hermione didn't know how she knew what to say but said, "I, Hermione Granger, accept the blood adoption from Lady Ravenclaw and accept my role as a Ravenclaw and as Lady Ravenclaw's heir. So mote it be."

Hermione slashed the dagger across her palm and let the ruby coloured liquid flow into the bowl. A bright light enveloped Hermione and Rowena.

Rowena had pointed Hermione to the direction of an ornate mirror and had told her to look into the mirror.

Hermione hair was now sleek and in ringlets of curls and her honey eyes had flecks of blue in them. She looked beautiful.

* * *

2 hours later, Helga, Rowena and Hermione had flooed back from Gringotts and were standing in the Founders Tower.

Hermione enlarged Merlin's portrait and asked where he wanted to be placed. He replied that he wanted to be in the Gryffindor Tower. Helga flicked her hand and Merlin's portrait disappeared.

The group saw that it was lunch time and headed out of the Tower.

They reached the marble staircase and saw a surprise waiting for them.

Albus Dumbledore.

* * *

 _2 hours earlier_

Neville and Tom ran up the steps and stared at Harry with shock written all over their faces. Silence ensued for a couple of minutes. Tom was the first to speak.

"Did Hermione just kiss you?" His voice was tight and had shock mixed in with worry. Harry just nodded in response, too shocked to speak. Neville was next to speak up.

"And did she just run away?" Neville's voice was exactly like Tom's but his question came out slower, confusion deep in his eyes. Again, Harry could only nod.

"I don't know whether to be happy for you, because you told me that you kind of liked Hermione in that way, or whether I should be upset for you because she ran away, should I be happy?" Neville asked, deep in thought.

For the first-time Harry spoke. "I think we should go look for her."

Both the of the other boys agreed.

They stalked the corridors for an hour trying to find the young witch. Nothing.

"Maybe Godric or Salazar knows where she is?" Neville suggested.

Harry didn't have time to answer as a certain Defence against the Dark Arts professor came into view of the three boys.

"Ah. Our new celebrities. You three boys have made quite a splash." Lockhart had a huge grin on his face and seemed not to notice the looks of disgust on the boy's faces.

"It's very hard being famous. You have to keep up appearances. Show your fans how much you care. Sign autographs. I'm not loved by my fans because I sit around all day. No. I am loved because I do great things and show people how much I care. And I would love to show three young celebrities how to act accordingly with the fame you will have."

Lockhart's annoying voice could no longer be heard by Tom, Harry and Neville as they had run down the corridor, trying to find Godric and Salazar.

"God, he is so annoying." Harry stated, making Tom and Neville laugh.

* * *

 _Half an hour later_

"Where on earth are they?" Neville complained. Harry and Tom shrugged.

None of them saw a black figure approach them. "Potter, Longbottom, Riddle, what are you doing inside on such a nice day?"

All three of the boys snapped their head up and saw the gleaming, black eyes of Severus Snape. Harry gulped.

"Um…"

"Is that all you can say Longbottom?" Snape sneered at the nervous boy.

"We were just looking for Godric and Salazar." Tom stated coldly, glaring at Snape.

In return Snape squinted at the group and turned away, robes billowing around him.

"When he does that it reminds me of a ball gown." Neville spoke deadpanned. Harry agreed with him and Tom just laughed, drawing the attention of Professor McGonagall.

"Hello Professor." Harry said in a sing song voice, making Professor McGonagall arch her eyebrows, almost like she knew of the confrontations from the two Professors.

"What have you three done now?" The Head of House asked, her Scottish accent thick.

The three boys looked at each other than at McGonagall and gave her an innocent look.

"We haven't done anything Professor." Tom told the sceptical Professor. The three smiled broadly at her. Their Head of House shook her head, a look of amusement on her face.

"You three remind me of the Marauders." McGonagall reminisced, a dreamy look on her face.

All three boys looked confused as McGonagall sighed and motioned for them to enter her office.

Her office was very different from what they thought it would be.

There was a warm, cosy fireplace with a blazing fire and plush chairs surrounded the fire. A Gryffindor banner was hung up on the opposite wall. Bookshelves lined the back wall where a desk sat infront of the shelves. An extra room was connected to the office. A window overlooked the Quidditch pitch and let the sun's rays run through the room. It felt homely.

"Sit." The Transfiguration teacher indicated the chairs and they sat down in them. She went on to explain that there were four Marauders: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.

"They all represented a student each. Moony was Remus Lupin, Wormtail was Peter Pettigrew, Padfoot was Sirius Black and Prongs was James Potter."

At this all three of the boys gasped at this as Professor McGonagall's eyes softened and began to glisten with tears. "They were always playing pranks and cracking jokes. They all made us laugh even in those dark times." A small smile graced her lips at the thought of the many pranks they played.

"Is that why Snape hates me?" Harry whispered. Professor McGonagall sharply turned her head to him and sighed tiredly.

"I think so. You see, your father and his friends played many pranks on Severus but sometimes they took it too far. I think that Severus still hates James and takes it out on you because you remind him of James. It also reminds him of Lily."

McGonagall looked into Harry's sparkling eyes. He was so confused.

Harry hesitated but asked, "What does Snape have to do with my mother?"

The Transfiguration teacher took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "When they first came to Hogwarts they were best friends. Your father didn't make a good first impression with Lily as he didn't like Severus. James loved Lily from the moment he looked at her but he wasn't happy with Severus being her friend. Lily broke off her friendship with Severus in their fifth year because James levitated Severus and when Lily tried to stop your father, Severus said he didn't need help from a mudblood." McGonagall had a pained look on her face as she stared into the fire. "It wasn't until their seventh year that they went out. Lily finally agreed to go out on a date with James because he had seen the error of his ways and had matured since their fifth year. They were both Head Boy and Head Girl. They were seen as the perfect couple. Everyone looked up to them for lessons. Everyone loved that they had ended up together but Severus. Severus was angry that James had 'stolen' Lily from him." McGonagall had a small smile on her face as she remembered her favourite students.

Tom seemed to realise something. "Snape was in love with Lily." He whispered so quietly that McGonagall had to strain to hear him.

The Head of House nodded slowly.

They spent the next hour talking about James, Sirius, Remus and Lily and what they did during and after school. Harry found out that Alice Longbottom was his godmother and he was best friends with Neville when they were toddlers, making Harry and Neville want to become better friends.

"I have already started to request to the Ministry about Sirius. I am hoping by Christmas he will be out of Azkaban and Pettigrew will be found." Professor McGonagall told the smiling boys. Harry seemed to remember his Uncle Padfoot and thanked the Professor for trying so hard to free him. "No problem Harry. Oh, look at the time! It is lunch already! We must get going!"

* * *

So, the three boys and the Professor made their way down the marble staircase and in to the Great Hall. Students were scattered across the four tables and Tom, Neville and Harry saw Salazar and Godric talking to the Weasley twins at the Gryffindor table. The three sat down next to Salazar and Godric and asked if they knew where Hermione was.

"I think Rowena said something like they wanted to take Hermione to Diagon Alley." Godric replied. Harry nodded in understanding but worried for Hermione. A faint blush crept onto his cheeks as he remembered how things with Hermione had finished. _Why did she have to run?_ Harry thought sadly.

"Cheer up Harry. I am sure Hermione is alright and is missing you as much as you are missing her." Tom told him gently.

Harry sighed. "I just wish she hadn't run away!"

Godric turned to face Harry and asked, "What did she run away from?" Alarm was clear in Godric's eyes as Harry, Neville and Tom stuttered that it was nothing. Salazar narrowed his eyes and glanced over the boys but he let it go. Until the whole Hall heard shouting coming from the Entrance Hall.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took so long to complete but I wanted this to be a longer chapter! I apologise for any mistakes in spelling or grammar! Please review! This is the longest chapter yet! It took me 4 days to write it all and is 4,094 words long! I didn't want a lot of drama this chapter so sorry if it seems a little jumpy with the actions of the characters.


	8. Happy moments

**Heirs of the Founders**

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages_

* * *

 _Chapter 8: Happy moments_

The student body swivelled their heads towards the slightly muffled sound, caution and curiosity evident on their faces. Whispers broke the uncomfortable silence when they heard someone shout.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! I DON'T CARE IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE MINISTER, YOU DON'T GO AROUND PRANKING HIM!" A loud feminine voice echoed through the halls. Snickering could be heard from the Entrance Hall.

"IT ISN'T FUNNY JAMES POTTER!" Many people gasped as Harry blinked in surprise. _But my parents are dead! How on earth are they here?!_ Harry thought quickly.

The laughter from the Entrance Hall immediately stopped when the woman bellowed at the man.

Godric and Salazar cautiously got up from the Gryffindor table and whipped their wands out, prepared for the worse, and crept to the heavy doors of the Great Hall. The air was thick with tension as the student body nervously darted their eyes to the men near the doors, some students sitting at the edge of their seats in anticipation.

Godric nodded to Salazar. Salazar waved his wand and the old doors flung open, revealing three people huddled in a group and a very confused Dumbledore at the top of the marble staircase with three witches behind him with a mischievous glint in their eyes.

A woman with flaming red hair and deep green eyes turned around to face Godric and Salazar, a startled look on her beautiful face. The woman narrowed her eyes at a man that looked like Harry but older. The man shrugged helplessly and turned to Salazar and opened his mouth then closed it again, not able to find the right words. A dishevelled man with matted, long hair shrugged back at the woman when she turned her gaze to him. The man looked like hell. His eyes were sunken deep into his face, a haunted look circling his eyeballs. His skin was as pale as a sheet and he looked like he had seen a ghost. The man turned back to the suspicious woman and commented in a soft tone.

"That is Salazar Slytherin," he said, pointing at the black-haired man, "and that is Godric Gryffindor." The man pointed at the muscular man and the woman nodded her head absently and leaned her head sideways to look into the Hall, her bright eyes quickly glanced over the many shocked faces but she was drawn to one in particular.

"Harry?" The redhead questioned and all eyes zoomed in on Harry. Harry nodded his head slowly. The woman began to cry and raced into the Hall and met with Harry halfway down the aisle. Harry soon started to cry as the woman hugged him tightly, almost like she wasn't going to see him ever again.

Soft whispers came from the woman, comforting the boy whilst stroking his hair comfortingly.

The woman slowly let go of the young Gryffindor and held him at arm's length as the older version of Harry approached Harry. Soon all three people were on the floor of the Hall, sobbing their hearts out and hugging each other for dear life.

Harry eventually pulled back from the hug and asked unsurely, "How are you here?"

The woman smiled. "Your dear friend Hermione helped. And Rowena and Helga."

Harry stood up and found Hermione's gaze. Hermione ran down the steps and engulfed Harry in a bone crushing hug. Sobbing, Harry whispered a thank you to her as the man and woman shared a knowing look.

Rowena and Helga came up to where Hermione and Harry were and Harry hugged them both.

Dumbledore marched down the stairs, eyes devoid of his signature twinkle, and made his way to where the man and woman were.

"YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" The old man bellowed, his voice echoing through the silent Hall.

The other man walked up to where the other two were and replied to the Headmaster. "They were dead but unless I have faulty eyesight, they are now alive."

A mischievous smirk broke out on to his face as Dumbledore took a step back in surprise as he realised who this man was- Sirius Black.

"AND YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE IN AZKABAN!" Dumbledore pointed a finger at Sirius accusingly.

Sirius and James both rolled their eyes and sighed in disbelief as the woman smacked James on the arm, causing him to yelp.

"Why doesn't Sirius get a smack on the arm?" James whined. This caused the fiery redhead to promptly smack Sirius on the arm as he started to laugh at James' whining.

"Lily you don't have to listen to him!" Sirius complained, making Lily shake her head in annoyance.

"You two are unbelievable!" Lily exclaimed, causing a smirk to appear on James and Sirius' faces.

Lily pushed past Dumbledore and came up to Hermione and hugged her, startling the young witch.

"Without your brilliant idea, we would never see our baby boy again so I-we thank you for your genius brain." She whispered into Hermione's bushy hair.

Snape got up from the Head Table and made his way to where James and Sirius were and looked at them with pure rage.

"You have to defy the laws of nature don't you _Potter_!" The bat sneered maliciously, spit flying from his mouth and into James' face. Disgusted, James wiped his face and narrowed his eyes at Snape and then proceeded to sit down at the Gryffindor Table, Sirius following him, and started to eat lunch, earning him bewildered looks from everyone.

Lily sighed. "Really James, you have just come back from the dead and you decide to eat lunch! What about Harry?!" She shrieked. James shrugged in response and told everyone that there was nothing to see and then went back to piling his plate high with food.

Lily muttered something about James and led Harry and Hermione to the table and started a conversation with Hermione about school.

Eventually, the student body started to carry on with their lunch, whispering and pointing to the new trio every few moments. Lily rolled her eyes when James and Sirius started to throw food at each other, amusing the Gryffindor students. Ron sat by himself and scowled at their behaviour as he continued to pile his plate up high, getting his 4th serving.

Hermione scrunched up her nose in disgust as Ron tried to get Harry's attention about something, resulting in food spewing across the table and hitting some Ravenclaw's in the back. "Ronald, we are trying to eat! Learn some manners!" Chastised the witch as Ron's face became red with anger.

Ron, seething, spat at Hermione, "No one was talking to you mudblood!"

Lily's attention was drawn out of the conversation she was having with Harry and she focused her gaze on Ron. James had heard what Ron had said and immediately looked to Lily, fury evident in her dazzling eyes. James stopped the conversation with the Weasley twins and Sirius and placed a comforting arm around Lily's waist, trying to calm her down, but to no avail.

Lily was about to start ranting at the boy when she heard a sob coming from Hermione. Harry had wrapped his arms around Hermione and started to console her as the Gryffindors turned their attention to the pair, wanting to help Hermione.

Professor McGonagall strode over to the Lion Table and saw Hermione sobbing and asked Lily what was wrong. Lily replayed what had happened and McGonagall put on her 'I-have-caught-you-at something-you-shouldn't-be-doing' face as Sirius called it, and took 50 points off Ron and suggested that James, Sirius, Lily, Harry, Hermione, Tom and Neville should go to the Founders Tower and finish their lunches there. The group decided that they would and Tom and Neville led the way back to the Tower and they all settled into the Tower, the three new arrivals taking in the Tower.

Soon Mipsy the house elf came and gave them some lunch for them to eat.

Hermione was no longer sobbing but had silent tears running down her face as James' intrigue peaked and asked something.

"What has happened since we have been gone?"

This was going to take a long time to explain.

* * *

A/N: Sorry this took so long but I had major writers block and then I had no idea how to piece the chapter together. It is really short but I didn't want too much in this chapter as this was more of a filler chapter for the story instead of me saying that a week later about something. If that makes sense. Did anyone guess that Lily and James were going to come back from Rowena talking about the Goblin Runes to the patronus' showing up? I will be surprised if you did. I was originally going to have them come back at Halloween to lighten up the mood for that day but decided against it. I hope you don't mind them coming back. * Looks hopeful * Please review and I hope you are all having a great summer!


	9. People and their weird conversations

**Heirs of the Founders**

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages._ **Thoughts of the narrator**

* * *

 _Chapter 9: People and their weird conversations_

They all shifted nervously in their seats, worry and fear bubbling in their stomachs. How were they going to tell them? Neville turned to Lily, James and Sirius.

"Um, well, I'm Neville if you didn't know," he stated awkwardly. Lily's eyes widened as she asked, "Neville, as in Alice and Frank's son?"

Neville nodded hesitantly. Lily turned to James quickly and turned back to Neville, a huge smile on her face. "I haven't seen you since you were a baby! You look a lot like Frank but I bet you have Alice's personality! How are they? Can we see them? Oh, I have missed Alice! I bet you and Harry grew up like brothers, you always were together when you were babies!" Lily turned back to James and quickly said, "We will have to thank them in some way for taking care of Harry!" Lily went on to ask loads of questions, not letting Neville answer any of them.

Lily finally stopped and waited in anticipation for Neville's answers but her smile faded from her face as she saw the sad look on the boy's face.

"My mum and dad are in St. Mungos. They were tortured by Death Eaters after your deaths. They were tortured to insanity." Tears welled in his eyes as Lily looked heartbroken by his words. She walked over to Neville and hugged him as Neville tensed at the contact but relaxed and let his tears fall.

Harry and Hermione gazed sadly at the two as James and Sirius looked pityingly at Lily and the young boy.

Lily pulled away and smiled sadly at Neville.

"I was Alice's best friend at school," she whispered, "we always did everything together. You remind me of her. I may have only seen you act at lunch, but you have Alice's personality; kind, caring and brave at heart. She did things other wouldn't. She helped her friends and stood up for what is right. She knew she wanted to be an Auror, even in her first year." Neville beamed as Lily explained all about his mum and how he was very much like her in all but looks. He never really got told about his mum by his gran. He always got compared to his dad but no one compared him to his mum, so having Lily retell the stories of his mum warmed his heart. Lily finished her stories as Neville whispered that he had never heard about his mum before, sinking Lily's heart at the news.

James looked bewildered. He turned to Sirius, who also looked confused, then turned back to the others. He tried to ask a question but stopped himself before he did and turned back to Sirius again even more bewildered. Sirius rolled his eyes as his best friend tried again to ask the same question. Bored of his friend's ability to construct a sentence (or the ability to not) he asked for him in a serious tone, "What James is trying to say, and failing miserably might I add, is, if Alice and Frank couldn't take care of Harry then who did?"

This made all of them glance nervously to each other then back at Harry. Hermione felt panicked as no one said anything. She didn't mean to say what she did next but there was no stopping her.

* * *

Lily, Sirius and James were angry. No that wasn't the right word. They were fuming. And when Lily is like that: 1) she looks like a bright red tomato in her anger, and 2) the outcome is not good.

They had learnt that Harry had gone to the Dursley's! The bloody Dursleys! That was worse than Azkaban! And Sirius had been there! It was now officially called Durzkaban.

How dare they hurt Harry! They would pay. And it wouldn't be good for them. At all.

Lily walked over to were Harry was, still fuming, and towered over him.

Harry's eyes widened in fear. He was in for it now. When an adult was that angry it was not good. Not good for him. He squirmed as Lily picked him up and hugged him.

Harry didn't understand why she was hugging him. Maybe it was some kind of way to treat him nicely before they hurt him.

"Aren't you angry at me?" Questioned Harry, fear still in his eyes.

Lily looked straight into his eyes and whispered comfortingly, "I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at the people who did this to you."

Harry's eyes were now filled with happiness as he saw the truth in his mum's eyes. Today had been the best day of his life. He had a family.

* * *

Ron was not having a good day. At all. He wasn't getting paid from Dumbledore anymore because Harry wasn't talking to him, and he had lost his partner, Ginny. Oh well. Who needed her anyway?

So, Ronald Bilius Weasley ran up to the Gryffindor Tower, ignoring the death glares sent his ways, and went straight to his dorm room. Once he was there he rifled through his trunk, trying, and failing, to find parchment and ink. He looked around the room till he had an idea. He would look through everyone else's trunks! I mean who would know about that.

So, Ron the thief started in Harry's trunk and pulled out a few items. He took out the invisibility cloak and stuffed it in his trunk, smirking to himself in triumph, and continued to find parchment and an ink bottle. He made his way down to the Common Room and saw his little sister sitting in a corner by herself, death glares sent both of their ways.

He decided to go sit with her. Big mistake.

"What do you want Ronald?" Snapped Ginny, looking into her ex-brother's eyes.

"I'm going to write a letter to mum, explaining all of this mess. Who does Potter think he is? Strutting in here like he owns the place, he's turning into Malfoy! We can't let him go dark Ginny, can we?" Ron stated to her. He knew that this would make her come around from her little outburst at him. He could see the fight in her eyes. Should she stick to her earlier choice or should she join her brother, her mother and Dumbledore again? But then it became clear to her that if she was going to win back Harry then she couldn't do it alone and she couldn't let him go dark. She would help her brother. There was no going back now.

* * *

To say Gilderoy Lockhart was pissed was an understatement. Why wasn't he the centre of attention like he normally was? The answer, Harry Potter. Lockhart knew that the boy was famous for his defeat of You-Know-Who, but the pompous Professor couldn't, or wouldn't, understand why he couldn't just swoop in and save Harry from all of his fame and let himself, Gilderoy Lockhart, take all of the fame and glory from the boy. Wait. That was an idea. He would just save Harry from his fame then mentor Harry and take all the fame for it. Yes, that would work.

He strode into his office and sat down at his desk, blowing a kiss at the portraits and photos of himself as he went. He would also have to convince Harry's parents that he would be able to handle Harry's glory somehow. But how would he do it.

He opened up his desk draw and brought out a slip of parchment. Written on the parchment was a list of Hogwarts Professors. Now which one to help him.

McGonagall: no. Flitwick: no. Dumbledore: maybe. Sprout: no. Snape: n- wait didn't he hate the boy? Yes, a definite yes for Severus. No one would stand in his way for fame, fortune and glory, not even the Founders themselves. Oh, how very wrong he was.

* * *

Dumbledore stalked through the halls of his castle.

 **Well it wasn't** _ **his**_ **castle anymore but he didn't need to know that right now.**

He didn't buzz around his * wink * castle like he normally did but stalked down the halls, leaving many scared first years scampering away. He was annoyed, beyond annoyed.

 **That seemed to be a very common emotion throughout the castle at the moment, who knows what caused that?**

Anyway, Dumbledore shouted the password at the gargoyle outside the office and quickly stepped onto the ascending stairs, leaving a very deafened statue at the front of his office.

"Bloody Headmaster!" Hissed the gargoyle who was now trying to unblock his ears and trying to hear again whilst Dumbledore slammed his door closed, deafening the gargoyle again, and slumped down in his chair, reaching for those blasted lemon drops!

 **What is it that makes him like them so much? Like seriously! Hah, get it, seriously, Sirius… no, okay. Awkward.**

Anyway, back to Dumbledork again. He sucked on his lemon drop thoughtfully.

 **Wait can you suck on something thoughtfully. That sounded way better when that was in my head. Not so good when I write it down or say it. Am I saying it? I mean I am the narrator of this story, hello there will be times for autographs later, and I am saying this in my head but feel like I am writing this down, like in a book series. I know I should tell Rita Skeeter this and she could make these events into a book series. Yeah! Call it Harry Potter and for each year add another part to the Harry Potter part and you have seven years of this to come! Although I really hate that beetle woman, literally beetle woman. You are probably wondering who I am, you are aren't you? No. Great. I am Hogwarts. I know right such an amazing foreseen plot twist. It's like all of the other stories of the Founders heirs. But I bet you have never actually been in the mind of Hogwarts have you. And if you have then… Anyway, I am here to make things a bit funnier because the bloody author is not funny in her writing at all and is terrible at writing so I will try, and I repeat try, to make this the funniest this adventure could be. I will probably not achieve this but I will try. You will see these intervals of me ranting about a character because most of them are so annoying right now. * cough * cough * Ron, Ginny, Lockhart, Dumbledork and the greasy haired bat. * cough * * cough * Back to the story!**

Dumbledork muttered under his breath about how he had to get Harry back under his control and then muttered some more about how it would be harder to do that now that Lily, James and Sirius are here.

 **There was some interesting stuff about what the bat did but no one wants to know about him so I will skip him and end this part here! Bye Hogwarts students and muggles! (I know only you can hear me Luna at the moment but I know soon everyone will be able to hear me soon, just be patient...)**

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you like how I added a new 'character' is Hogwarts really a character? I don't know. But I would love to know what you think about me adding a narrator in to jazz things up a bit! Please review! I would love to know what you think I will do with Luna. See ya!


	10. Potions in the system

**Heirs of the Founders**

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages._ **Thoughts of the narrator**

* * *

 _Chapter 10:Potions in the system_

James and Sirius were sitting in the Common Room of the Founders Tower and were laughing at a prank that they retold with the fire roaring loudly when a mess of black hair walked into the room. Harry. James turned away from his friend and looked into the innocent and nervous eyes of his son.

"Hello son. I assume that you are here to talk to us about something?" James guessed, gesturing to a seat infront of him and Sirius. Harry nodded his head slowly as he went and sat in the chair. Harry had no idea how to start this conversation. He bit his lip anxiously as he replayed the conversation with his dad and godfather in his head that he created. It was at this point that Sirius decided to put the kid out of his misery and asked him a question.

"Is this about Hermione?"

Harry sat back, shocked. He hadn't expected his godfather to be that observant.

 **Same here.**

Again, he nodded his head slowly. Sirius nodded at the boy, a triumphant smirk on his face. James just stared at Sirius, gaping at the shaggy man.

 **Ha! Shaggy man!**

"What?" asked Sirius, brows furrowed at James, wondering what had got his friend in such a state.

James blinked out of his stupor and stammered, "I-I just didn't expect you to be so observant." Of course.

Sirius stared blankly at James. "Great. That's just great. Of course, you wouldn't think I was that smart, would you?" Sirius muttered, annoyed.

"Can we just get back to me and problem?" Harry snapped, shocking the men. "Please." Harry added sweetly.

James and Sirius had a look of guilt on their faces.

 **Serves them right, always listen to the children.**

Somewhere in the castle Luna Lovegood smiled secretly at the commentary running through her head.

Harry started to explain what had happened between him and Hermione whilst James and Sirius listened patiently.

 **Well that's a first.**

"So, what do I do?" The boy asked, an exasperated look on his face.

Sirius sat and contemplated what Harry had said, not quite sure what to do. James on the other hand, jumped straight into questioning his son.

"What did you feel when she kissed you?"

Harry now had a smile on his face as he remembered the feeling. "I felt complete, like I knew that Hermione was the one for me. I knew that I like Hermione but I don't know whether to ask her out."

James smirked as he told Harry to talk with Hermione and find out what she thinks and feels then go from there. Harry nodded in appreciation and headed out to find one of his best friends.

James snapped his fingers infront of Sirius, trying to get his attention. Eventually, he got the attention of the man but a small frown appeared on James' face.

"You miss him, don't you?" James asked Sirius. The other nodded.

* * *

Hermione sat in the library when she heard a sound. A squeak. She flipped her head to turn towards the door, her bushy hair whipping around, making her vision impaired as she flicked her hair out of her eyes.

"Hello?" Hermione asked tentatively, getting up from her seat, hoping to find the cause of the small squeak- she did. She bumped into a figure.

It was a girl with extremely blonde hair and a dazed look on her face.

 **What a happy coincidence you found her Luna. It is almost like you were told where she was then you were told to talk to her. Hmm. I wander who could have given you that information. Very not suspicious.**

Luna had a slight smile on her face as she heard the sarcastic tone of Hogwarts in her head. Hermione stared bewildered at the young girl, wondering why she was smiling.

"Hello Hermione." Luna said in a cheery tone.

"Um, hello. Do I know you?" The other girl asked cautiously.

"No." Was the answer Luna gave to the confused witch.

"Is there something you wanted?" Hermione asked after a while. Luna nodded.

"I would like to speak to you." Luna answered and sat down at a table, indicating for the other witch to sit across from her. The other witch complied, albeit a little hesitantly.

"What is it you would like to talk to me about?" Hermione frowned as the other didn't say anything at first but seemed to daydream, making her grey eyes wonder around the room. Something seemed to be crisp in the air as Luna turned her attention to Luna. Was it magic in the air? Or something else?

Whatever it was it seemed to snap the daydreaming witch out of her thoughts.

"The Loraxes are clouding your judgement." Luna stated. Hermione tilted her head as she remembered a book called 'The Lorax'.

Hermione looked weirdly at Luna and tried to explain what a Lorax was but Luna was having none of it. "A Lorax, Hermione, is a creature that can cloud your thoughts over a person, making you not sure of how you feel of them." Then it clicked.

Not sure how you feel about them. Clouding your thoughts. Potions. "Thank you, Luna. I understand now. You are a great friend."

Luna couldn't help but smile at the thought of being Hermione's friend. Things were looking up for the blonde witch.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey was having a nice, no hurt children, day when, all of a sudden, the doors flew open, showing Hermione Granger. A very angry Hermione Granger.

"Whatever is the matter?" The matron asked the fuming girl.

"I need to know if someone has slipped me potions or not." The girl asked now worried.

Madam Pomfrey walked into her office, looked through the shelves and found a flushing potion. The matron walked back out and led Hermione to a hospital bed and gave her the potion, telling her to drink it.

Immediately, a piece of parchment came into Madam Pomfrey's hand and writing appeared on it. Hermione suddenly felt a lot better. In her head, she knew she could think things a lot clearer. There had been potions in her system.

A white light glowed around the young witch at the same time as a young boy named Harry ran down a corridor, trying to find Hermione, and they both fell unconscious.

 **Finally! I was starting to wonder if I needed to use my magic to help all of this mess. What do I mean by using my magic to help this mess, I hear you cry? Well, Hermione and Harry have a special something and Hermione had potions in her system then when there were no potions in her system, something happened. I may have told Luna to tell Hermione about the potions to speed things along a bit. Maybe. But you will never know. Or maybe you will. Maybe. Just a little bit. More than a little bit. But that isn't important, all you need to know is that something big will be explained to them and one person will be in tears and another person will be very, very angry.**

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! I know this is a very short chapter but I thought it was better than nothing and I don't know why, but I felt that I should write another chapter this week. I know it isn't very good but I didn't really know what I was doing with this chapter as I originally was going to do something different but this idea formed in my head and I ran with it, soooo… Yeah, this is the result of that idea, well start of the idea, and I will elaborate on the idea in the next chapter. Hogwarts seems to be meddling with things but how much is she willing to meddle? Do you guys have an idea who is going to be upset next chapter? If you do then tell me! Please review because when you guys review the chapters it literally makes my day as I look and I see people wanting more of the story! Bye!

 **Well that was a weird message if I ever heard one!**


	11. Information and news

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages._ **Thoughts of the narrator.**

 _Chapter 11: Somethings you wouldn't expect_

Hermione felt terrible. She heard muttering as she slowly regained consciousness, trying to remember where she was- the hospital wing.

The mutterings stopped as she groaned, alerting the other members of the room that she had woken up.

Hermione slowly opened her eyes begrudgingly, taking in the people around her. Standing straight ahead of her was Lily Potter, who had a worried look on her face, on her right was James Potter, a look on his face told the young witch that he was reminiscing about something, then next to James Potter was Sirius Black, whose face showed no emotion at all.

 **It's like trying to get blood out of a stone with his emotions.**

Then on the other side of the hospital bed was Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall and Rowena Ravenclaw, who had a knowing look on her face. Hermione was confused. Why was she here again?

"Hermione, can you hear me?" Madam Pomfrey asked her. Hermione nodded as she saw the blinding lights of the wing and groaned as she realised she had a headache. Great.

"Ah, that usually happens when you are knocked unconscious." The matron said wisely, knowing that the young girl had a headache.

"Feel sick…" The girl mumbled. Madam Pomfrey slipped her a potion, which she drank, making her feel instantly better. Hermione nodded her appreciation as she sat up wearily, trying not to squint because of the blinding lights.

She asked what happened. The adults all looked at each other. It was Lily who explained things to her.

"You came to Madam Pomfrey, asking her to give you a flushing potion, and once you drank the potion a white light glowed around you and you fell unconscious." That was a quick explanation.

"Why though?" Hermione's voice cracked, still trying to get rid of the sleepiness in her.

"At the same time Harry," she indicated to the bed left of Hermione, "fell unconscious like you. This is because you share a soul bond."

Wait did Hermione hear her right? Soul bond? Wasn't that when people are destined to be together and they share a connection and nothing can separate them?

Rowena answered her question. "Yes, yes, it is."

Hermione bit her lip. "What does it mean?" the soul bond, "What does it do? Do I need to do something? What happens if we are away too long?" The questions spurted out of her mouth, her thirst for knowledge showing.

Rowena held up her hand to silence the witch as she realised that she was rambling. "We will have to wait till Harry is awake so we don't have to repeat this twice and you can both ask questions together."

Hermione nodded her head and glanced to the bed next to her, looking at Harry with a worried look in her honey eyes.

Silently, the adults left the wing but Madam Pomfrey walked into her office, leaving Hermione and Harry alone. It felt like hours to Hermione as she sat up in the bed, glancing at Harry every few seconds but it was only minutes. She debated to herself with this was a good thing or a bad thing. Would this hurt people around them? Would this make them feel awkward around each other? Is this-

She was dragged out of her thoughts as she realised she had gotten out of the bed, made her way to Harry's bed, and had started to hold his hand. She looked down at Harry and saw a small smile on his face. She smiled herself and tried to think back to when she started to like Harry. In more than a friendly way.

 _Hermione was sitting on her bed in the 1st year girl's dormitory, crying silently. There was no one else in the room, just her and her whirling thoughts about many things: the troll that just tried to kill her, Ron and Harry. But mainly Harry. How could anyone not have a little crush on the boy that just saved them? Ron was there but she didn't trust him and all he did was cast a spell. Something seemed off about him. Something Hermione couldn't place. And then there was Harry…_

 _The sweet, kind boy who could do no wrong. He never said anything mean or rude to her, unlike Ron, and he came and saved her. She owed him a lot. Especially now. She kind of hoped for more but she knew deep down that she would have to bury these feelings. But how? She couldn't walk up to Harry and say she liked him, could she?_

 _She was dragged out of her thoughts as the door opened and revealed the Headmaster in the doorway. She quickly wiped away her tears and faced him. "Hello Headmaster. What can I do for you?" She asked, her voice hoarse._

 _Dumbledore moved closer into the room and sat down next to Hermione, the same twinkle in his eye he always has. "Miss Granger I have to ask you a favour."_

 _"A favour?" The girl repeated, making the Headmaster nod his head._

 _"Yes. I want you to help me out with Harry."_

 _Hermione blushed slightly and stumbled, "H-Harry?"_

 _"Yes. I need you to report back to me what he says and does." He had a smile on his face, clearly thinking she was going to go along with it but Hermione shook her head._

 _"No." She said with finality. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, a cold look on his face._

 _"You wouldn't want your secret crush on Harry to be told to the whole school, would you?"_

 _Hermione realised what he was doing; he was blackmailing her with her new-found secret. Oh no. "I-I'll do it."_

 _"I knew I could trust you!" The man smiled chillingly and left, leaving the young girl all alone, crying vigorously because of what she had just done. Hermione muttered to herself, "I hope you can forgive me Harry."_

Hermione sank down onto Harry's hospital bed, legs aching with exhaustion. A few stray tears raced down her cheeks, leaving lines, showing she had been crying, and leaving her eyes puffy and red. Hermione felt exhausted. She felt sick... but she felt happy; she was with the person she wanted to be with- Harry. With the content feeling of knowing she was safe, Hermione laid down next to her best friend and let sleep take over, leaving her in her own thoughts.

Madam Pomfrey walked into the sectioned off area of the hospital wing where Harry and Hermione were and opened the curtain to see the two sharing a bed, Harry's arm around Hermione's waist, small smiles on each of their faces. She placed the potions on the bedside, summoning a quill, ink and parchment, and wrote a note, prompting them to drink the potions. Silently, not wanting to wake up the exhausted students, she slid out of the curtained area and saw Lily and James lingering at the doors of the wing, anxiety showing on their faces. Madam Pomfrey walked briskly over to them and asked what ever was the matter and they both looked at each other. James nodded his head at Lily, clearly giving consent for her to ask a question. The matron turned her gaze to Lily, assessing her thoroughly. Her posture was tensed, tears stinging her eyes but a look on anger evident in her facial expressions as well as anxiety.

"We want to know the full extent of Harry's abuse at the Dursley's."

That was not what the matron was expecting.

* * *

Ginny sat in the corner of the Gryffindor Common Room, writing in her new diary. Mrs Harry Potter was scribbled all over the pages. "Soon..." She muttered under her breath. She had written to her mum about the situation with Harry, moaning how he hadn't noticed her or how he hadn't looked at her like he did Hermione. Stupid Granger. She had to get in the way, didn't she? Always hanging around her Harry. Always the one to console him when he was upset, always there to laugh with him, always there to look at him with a loving look in her eye. She shouldn't do that. Harry was hers and hers alone. She didn't share with others.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard a something splatter against the window- Errol. That bloody bird. Ginny jumped out of her chair, eager to find out what her mum had said about Harry and her. She opened the window, letting the fuzz that was Errol in, making her spit feathers out of her mouth whilst the owl perched himself on the table she was sat at, looking at her with a blank expression.

Ginny untied the letter from the bird's leg and ripped open the letter and began to read the letter rapidly.

 _Dear Ginny,_

 _I can't believe that boy found out about our plans. No matter. I lured your father with a love potion when we were at school and I know you will remember the stories of the potion I used. I have made a batch of the potion, enough for you and Ron to give to Harry and Hermione. Harry's money will be ours and you will get the Boy-Who-Lived, like you always wanted._

 _Everything will work out as it should in the end. Tell Ronald to owl me with updates, and yourself, about what is happening at school._

 _Love, mum x_

Ginny's eyes now had an evil glint in them, a mischievous smirk on her face. The fire crackled as she saw someone walk down the steps into the Common Room. She quickly tried to hide the letter from her mum as a shadow loomed over her.

"What have-"

"You got-"

"Ginny?"

Ginny looked up to meet the curious eyes of her older brothers- Fred and George. A shiver went down her spine as they finished each other's sentences. "I wish you would stop talking like that! Why do you care anyway? Aren't you on Granger's side?" Ginny finished her questions with malice as she remembered that she had to get rid of the smart witch somehow, she tried to hide her annoyance as her brothers sat down next to her, sandwiching her between them.

The twins looked at each other then back at their younger sister. "You are still our sister but you know what you are doing is wrong, don't you?" Fred asked.

This made Ginny think. Was it wrong? Was mum wrong? The twins don't lie.

"Think about it Ginny and maybe you will change your mind."

Fred and George left after that, leaving their sister alone in the Common Room. But Ginny had made up her mind. She couldn't go back to Harry's side, could she? She promised Ron that she would help him. Could she act like she was on Ron's side but really on Harry's?

This was going to be a long week.

* * *

Rowena pushed open the door to the Founders Tower, sighing as she did. Godric looked up from the gruelling game of Wizards Chess with Salazar, and saw his wife and asked what was wrong.

"Well, what's happened is good, it's great even, but the way it was stopped is bad."

Godric turned to Salazar and gave him a bemused expression. Salazar copied his expression as he also didn't have a clue what she was in about.

Rowena must have noticed the expressions on their faces as she snapped: "Harry and Hermione have a soul bond!"

Oh. Godric turned to his wife and asked what had happened.

Rowena sat down in a chair next to Godric and held her head in her delicate hands, a pained expression on her face. "Dumbledore has messed with the children again." She muttered darkly. Salazar and Godric stared stupidly at the witch.

 **They always have that look on their faces.**

"What?!" They both exclaimed at the same time, a dark glint in Salazar's cold eyes.

"Harry and Hermione share a soul bond and I know that Dumbledore must have blocked the part of Hermione's mind where she is drawn to Harry until they form a relationship. But Hermione obviously is an extremely powerful witch-"

"-How?" Godric interrupted. Rowena had a very miffed look in her eyes at being interrupted.

"Well I was going to tell you but you interrupted!" Godric now had a deep, guilty blush on his face as Salazar rolled his eyes dramatically, "Her feelings for Harry have overpowered the spell blocking the bond and when the flushing potion was given to her, her magic swelled and broke the spell."

Salazar nodded his head in fascination of the recent discovery. "Definitely a powerful witch," his eyes cast away from Rowena and he looked at something with a dreamy look, "if she could overpower Dumbledore's spell."

Godric suddenly thought of something. "Rowena?"

"Hmm?"

"Didn't you and Helga take her to Gringotts?"

"Yes, we did, why?"

Godric seemed to find the right words and looked into Rowena's eyes. "Do you think she might not be muggleborn?"

Rowena leaned back in her chair, shocked. She stumbled over her words as she looked into Godric's eyes. "We all took Inheritance Tests, it said she was muggleborn…" She trailed off as Salazar reminded her that if a blood adoption was involved then her real parents wouldn't show up.

"I don't know… I really don't know…"

"Did you check her medical history because if you cast the same spell you did for the other heirs, then it would show a blood adoption? For all we know, the muggles might not know that Hermione isn't their daughter. They could have been obliviated and had their memories changed to think she was their daughter…" Salazar asked curiously.

"What makes you say that she isn't muggleborn?" Rowena asked after a long, suffering silence.

Godric sighed as he muttered, "Where do we start?" He turned to Salazar for help and Salazar began to talk.

"Think about it, have you ever seen a muggleborn read as much about the Wizarding World as her?"

"Well, no- but- "

"Muggleborns don't normally read _all_ of their books before they get here and remember them word for word, not even your own House, do they?"

Rowena deflated a little in her seat and muttered a no.

"Only purebloods would listen in to conversations because they have mostly been brought up that way, and muggleborns are told not to listen into other conversations, whether Hermione listens in to the conversations on purpose or not is another thing. But you have to admit, the way she acts as well. I have seen a lot of muggleborns and none of them act as nice as she does and most of them have different manners. We have all seen many pureblood kids and they all act like they are perfect and act nice when they need to be, they can all put on a front so they don't show their emotions."

Rowena nodded her head slightly at Salazar's reasoning and focused on his words.

"And from what I can see, when Hermione wants to show her emotions, she can but other times…"

"She might not be pureblood, you know." Godric inserted. Rowena gave him a strange look.

"How do you mean?" She asked, her curiosity peaked.

"We have seen the pureblood kids in this school, none of them are as skilled as Hermione, unless her real parents were from different countries and different pureblood families, she shouldn't have that much magical ability. Look at Malfoy for example, he is an average wizard at best from all of the inbreeding in pureblood families but Hermione has a lot more magical ability. She could be a half-blood as well. She could have a muggle parent or a muggleborn parent if she is a half-blood as she has a lot of power but if she is a pureblood then it must be a fairly new pureblood family or families from different countries as she is more than your average witch, magic wise."

Rowena nodded her head slowly as she processed this information slowly. "But how would she know how to act this way if she wasn't taught by her family, if she is a pureblood or a half-blood, as she has grown up with the muggles?"

Godric pondered her question but came up with an answer: "What if she wasn't dropped off with the Grangers until she was older than we thought? Purebloods normally start teaching their children how to act when they are around three years old. If she was dropped off when she was four or five, then in her muscle memory she would know how to act and she would apply what she has learnt."

Godric now had an air of smugness around him as Salazar complimented him for his 'incredible theory' whilst Rowena smirked and rolled her eyes at the dazzling smile she got from him after Salazar complimented him. "See, I am good at this, not just you Ravenclaws can come up with great theories."

"Fine, I'll give it to you, it is a very good theory."

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes when Godric broke it by asking: "When are we going to see if we are right?"

Salazar and Rowena shared a look and Rowena stated, "She has had quite a shock now so I don't think we should do it for a little bit, she doesn't now need to find out the people who have raised her aren't her real parents."

Salazar arched his eyebrows and stated, "If she is even a pureblood or a half-blood"

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait but I was just visiting my uncle in London but where we were staying there was no Wi-Fi so I literally pulled my hair out as I couldn't write anything or upload anything! So, what do you guys think of the fact Hermione might not be muggleborn? What happened to Hogwarts, she wasn't very active at this moment in time? Is something afoot? Or is it that she couldn't be bothered to say anything? I don't know why, but I really like this chapter for some reason or another and I feel it's an improvement of my writing. Hope you liked this chapter! Bye!


	12. Plans

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages._ **Thoughts of the narrator.**

 _Chapter 12: Plans_

The sun rose as Saturday slowly rolled in, making students groan as they had lessons on Monday. Hermione had woken up early in the morning and had snuck out of the castle to clear her head, and had gone into the Forbidden Forest and had found some centaurs-apparently, some of them didn't like witches and wizards. Hermione had frowned at this. One centaur had been nice to her-Firenze.

He had told her how they were treated by wizard and witches alike. She was horrified at the notions of what some people did.

"That's horrible!" She shrieked uncontrollably, "Why do people do that? Why isn't everyone treated the same?"

Firenze look at the witch with a pitying gaze. "Not everyone in the world is good, I'm sure you know that," Hermione nodded her head slowly, signalling she knew what it was like. All the times she had been bullied in Primary School and now Hogwarts, "...some people think that they are above creatures such as myself or werewolves, or even vampires. People discriminate because of how someone looks or who their parents are."

Hermione now had a frown on her face as she told Firenze how she was treated at school because of her muggle parents. "Draco Malloy and his motley crew are the worst of it. They Slytherins hate muggleborns. Pansy Parkinson, she's part of Malfoy's crew, has teased me since last year about how I was a know-it-all."

The centaur understood where the young girl was coming from and listened to her words as she described how humans were treated differently as well. "Doesn't Professor Dumbledore do something about the bullying?" He asked, slightly shocked that the Headmaster allowed such appalling behaviour.

Hermione snorted in rage as she thought about how he did nothing to stop the students from bullying. "You would think he would do something, wouldn't you? Nope." She popped the 'p' to emphasise her point to the centaur, "He just sits in his office all day, sucking lemon drops. Many students and staff members complain to the Headmaster about the behaviour of others but he doesn't listen." Hermione ended her rant and huffed as she sat on a big rock, running her fingers through her bushy hair, trying to tame it.

"Do any of the teachers bully students?" Asked the centaur, watching the witch for any signs of deception of her answers but finding none as she started to explain about her potions lessons.

"... all he does is belittle anyone who isn't a Slytherin! He is probably a good potioneer...he just doesn't like children, I think...he especially doesn't like Harry but no one knows why and if they do they won't say. They're afraid that something will happen to them and they shouldn't be afraid of a Professor, they're supposed to help you!" Hermione whined to Firenze, a fiery glare in her eyes as she described the Potions Master with more vile words.

The centaur swivelled his head around as he felt the sun's rays beam down on his back. "You must return to the castle..." The centaur mumbled to the girl. The girl nodded her head and said goodbye to Firenze and walked towards the entrance of the Forest.

Hermione trudged slowly towards the opening and saw the castle come into view, the sun's rays bouncing off the windows. The air was crisp as it normally was in September but Hermione felt that something was different-something wasn't right. But what? Her gaze glossed over the castle trying to find any differences and finding none. She then moved on to look at Hagrid's Hut and saw nothing different.

That reminded her, she hadn't been to see Hagrid yet. That was another thing to do. The first being to get information on soul bonds.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, the witch walked back towards the castle, not seeing anything odd, and saw a few students walking in to the Great Hall for breakfast. She decided to join them and found only a couple of first years sitting at the table, including Ginny. She hesitantly sat down across from Ginny, hoping to start a conversation with her, but she was cut off by Ginny as she started to talk.

"Look everyone, it's the perfect Granger girl! You can do no wrong, can't you? News flash for you; the world doesn't revolve around you nor are you the perfect student! Stop pretending! And leave me alone!" Ginny exploded, making the Hall look intensely at the confrontation.

"Ginny-"

"-No! Leave me and my family alone!" After that Ginny got up from her seat and sat down at the opposite end of the table, leaving a shocked Hermione behind.

Neville walked towards the Gryffindor Table and sat next to Hermione. He followed her gaze and landed on someone-Ginny. He sighed and turned back to Hermione. "What has she done now?" He asked, exasperated.

She focused on him now, trying to explain what had happened. "And then she just left and sat down over there," she gestured over to where Ginny was now sitting with her brother Ron, both of them looking very suspicious, "and now they are looking very shrewd. I wonder what they are up to?"

"Only Merlin knows that." They started to grab some breakfast from the plates and began to eat when, all of a sudden, Neville remembered something, "Actually, I, and the whole of Gryffindor, have been wondering where that portrait of Merlin came from, do you know?"

Hermione blushed slightly and made her voice a whisper, "When I went to Gringotts I went into the Ravenclaw Vault-"

"-Why?" Neville interrupted.

"Rowena made me the Ravenclaw heir," she said with an air of nonchalance, "so we went into the Vault and found Merlin's painting and started to talk to him. Then Rowena came and she shrunk him and took him here, he said he wanted to be in the Gryffindor Tower, so that's how he ended up there."

Neville's expression was now understanding and he nodded his head slowly. "We all wanted to know why he was there but he wouldn't say, we thought if we asked one of the Founders then maybe they would tell us but we couldn't find them." He started to eat his food and then looked up at Hermione.

"What?" She asked hesitantly. The boy looked around the Hall and then turned around to Hermione.

"Where is Tom, Lily, James, Sirius and the Founders?"

Hermione was shocked. She hadn't noticed that. _I'm too wrapped up in my thoughts. Get your head into gear Hermione._ She thought, annoyed that her thoughts clouded her seeing things.

"I-I don't know..."

She but her lip and told Neville they should go look for them.

"I think Lily, James and Sirius will be in the Hospital Wing, waiting for Harry to...wake up" Tears prickled her eyes as her thoughts turned dark. What if Harry didn't wake up? What would she do? Would she di-?

Hermione focused on Neville as he shook her shoulders. "Sorry." She mumbled.

"Let's go to the library. Maybe Tom will be there?" She said.

So, they headed off in the direction of the library at a brisk pace, hoping to find their friend.

* * *

Tom sat in a corner of the library, alone. That was how he liked it. It reminded him of when he first started Hogwarts.

He was discriminated in Slytherin as they thought he was muggleborn, so he went into the library and did his homework there and he had read almost all of the books in the library by the time he finished his second year.

But it was different now-he had friends. But he still felt better when he was alone. He didn't like being in big crowds, it always reminded him of when he was little and the orphans used to bully him, so it was nice to get away from everyone once in a while.

Right now, he was reading a book on recent magical history-he needed to learn what had happened. Apparently, a lot of bad things happened.

 _A new Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, had risen and terrified the British Wizarding Community and had slaughtered many muggles in Britain. His reign was a terrible one and many half-bloods, muggleborns and Ministry workers were killed by You-Know-Who's followers-Death Eaters-, leaving Wizarding Britain at an all-time low in population, now having only 3,000 wizards and witches in Britain, many now fleeing with their families, decreasing the population more. He was defeated on October 31_ _st_ _in Godric's Hollow by Harry Potter-the Boy-Who-lived- and Magical Britain had remained peaceful since then, but that night didn't come without consequence. Lily and James Potter, the parents of young Harry, were murdered by the Dark Lord whilst protecting the boy. A memorial was erected in memory of them in Godric's Hollow, where they were when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named attacked them, and their house hasn't been touched since, reminding the Wizarding Community of the Saviour that was made their but also reminding them of the tragic loss of many more witches and wizards alike._

Tom finished reading the page and turned over the page when he saw someone slide into the seat next to him. He looked up from his book and examined the student next to him. She had radishes as earrings and had a butterbear necklace hanging around her neck, she had dirty blonde hair and had a dreamy look on her face as she reached forward and grabbed a book from the shelf. He chose to ignore her at first but kept one point of his focus on her at all times.

He read for another couple of minutes until the blonde piped up. "You look lonely."

Tom glanced up at her and gave her a calculating gaze. "What makes you say that?"

"You have friends but you're not with them," she shrugged, "and you are in a dark corner of the library where anyone hardly goes and there is an aura around you, it seems lonely, like you're missing someone in your life. I decided to fix that problem by being here."

He narrowed his eyes questionably. "Did it occur to you that I might just want to be alone?" He asked, rather coldly.

The girl's expression deflated at the harsh tone but she answered him in a whisper, "Your aura maybe small but loneliness can easily by noticed by someone and I have seen you hang around with your friends nearly all the time you have been here, so why the change?"

Tom hesitated in answering her and cast his head down, clearly ashamed, and saw that the girl had no shoes on. "Why do you not have shoes on?"

"The other girls steal them." She answered as if it didn't matter but it mattered to Tom, he knew what it was like to be bullied. He mentally took a note of her bullying and promised himself to mention it to Salazar or Rowena.

"Why the change?" She asked again.

Tom sighed but answered, "I'm scared…scared that they will turn on me if they see the true me…"

"If they are your true friends then they won't leave you the minute you reveal your true self and if they don't want to be friends with you then you will make new friends."

"But everyone thinks I'm a monster…" He trailed off as he remembered some of the first years glancing nervously in his direction in the Great Hall.

"I don't." The girl replied, an air of confidence around her, "And if no one wants to be friends with you then I will be your friend."

He smiled at that but then realised he don't know her name.

"My name's Luna Lovegood."

They chatted for a bit more and Tom found it incredibly easy to talk to her and he talked a lot about his life in the orphanage, Luna sympathising with him, stating she would hate it as well if the other kids did that to her. She was a bit…eccentric. But she was easy to talk to.

"There you are!" Hermione exclaimed as she rounded the corner to find Tom and Luna in a deep conversation, "We were worried about you!"

She strode across to Tom and engulfed him in a hug, surprising him.

"I wasn't exactly hiding." He told her.

Neville sat down opposite Luna as Hermione released Tom and stood next to him.

"You had her really worried. She was going mental!" Neville stated to Tom, earning a swat from Hermione. She flushed in embarrassment.

"I was not going mental, was I?" She asked nervously. Neville nodded his head as Hermione huffed then turned around and saw Luna.

"Oh, hello Luna. I didn't know you and Tom knew each other?"

"Hogwarts told me to come for him." She said lightly.

Neville, Tom and Hermione all had confused looks on their faces as Luna went back to reading her book, clearly not fazed by what she had said. Hermione spluttered, trying to comprehend what the younger witch had stated so calmly. Tom observed Luna, trying to see if she was lying, or trying to find any sign of her really caring about what she had revealed.

Neville…well, Neville just sat there and gaped, running through what she had said. He then remembered something Helga said to him before.

 _Neville and Helga were alone in the Founders Tower and sitting across from each other, relaxing._

 _Helga was telling Neville about herself and stories of all of the Founders together. She had explained that she was a Seer._

" _We knew that once we died that it would take a long time for all four of our heirs to come to Hogwarts, so we, well it was more Rowena and I, had an idea to create a person for Hogwarts. She is called Lady Hogwarts and will- was helping the students when we weren't there. It seems now that someone must have bound her."_

 _Neville leaned forward in his chair, curious about the mysterious Lady Hogwarts. "What do you mean bound?"_

 _Helga sighed, "We also knew that eventually our heirs might not nee d Lady Hogwarts' help, so we created a way for them to bind her into the wards. The only people who will be able to hear her is a Seer."_

" _But you're a Seer!" Neville said, clearly confused._

" _I do hear Lady Hogwarts but not as much as I normally would. You see, Neville, every Headmaster or Headmistress has renewed the wards around the castle and even you have contributed to the wards. When a witch or wizard says a spell, they use their magic, most of time there is excess magic which is incorporated into the wards, making them stronger, and because we haven't used magic since we have been here, I can hardly hear Lady Hogwarts as she is now in the wards."_

" _You have used magic!" Neville protested._

" _But it was wandless magic, you need to use your wand to incorporate magic into the wards, so Salazar and Godric have used their wands for mock duelling and thus they are back into the wards. I shot stinging jinxes at them both but it was without my wand so it wasn't weaved into the wards. Do you understand?"_

 _Neville nodded his head in confirmation._

" _But wards can be dangerous," Neville looked bewildered at this and prompted Helga to go on, "they can be used to keep a spell on someone. We don't have the power over the wards anymore as the new Headmaster or Headmistress does, they can control the wards to alter people's memories. We debated over having wards but we knew they were for the safety but now I fear, if Dumbledore knows this, then he will use this to his advantage. You promise me Neville that you will be careful when we are gone, you will won't you?"_

 _Neville nodded his head and turned over what Helga had said 'when we are gone', did this mean when they were gone for a couple of days, or did she mean gone for good? Neville disregarded that idea as he thought he sounded ridiculous. Why would Helga be worried about…that?_

Neville looked into Luna's eyes and asked if she could hear Hogwarts. She nodded her head and hummed slightly.

"She says some very funny things sometimes. She seems to think someone is writing a story about this or she thinks that this is someone's memory, replaying in their head. She is very fascinating."

Hermione quirked an eyebrow at her response whilst Tom eyed Neville with a suspicious look. Neville mouthed that he what tell him later.

"We better go find the Founders, they'll want to know about Luna." And as quick as a snap, all four of them walked out of the library and went to search for the Founders. But where do you start?

* * *

Lily had been sat at her son's bedside for hours, wondering when he was going to wake up. James was pacing behind her, focused on something else. Sirius was sitting opposite from Lily, not showing any emotions. _Bloody Blacks. They don't show any emotion at all._ Lily mentally huffed at her thoughts.

 **I wish James wouldn't try to create a hole in the floor, it will expensive to repair the damage.**

Lily sighed and leaned back in the chair, clearly exhausted. It seemed that James had decided to stop creating a hole in the floor-

 **Thank god for that!**

-and turned to Lily and Sirius. "You're not going to like what I suggest." He muttered darkly.

Lily furrowed her brow at his tone. "What do you mean?" She asked.

James stared into both of their eyes and said determined, "We need to get back on the Wizengamot."

Sirius started to immediately shake his head. "No, no, no! I refuse Prongs!"

"It's the only thing we've got! We need to bring Dumbledore down! We can't do it magically as he has a lot more power than us, but Dumbledork has a lot of power politically. If we challenge him through the Wizengamot then it will be a lot harder for him to escape. I remember the Potter alliances there are at least 5 other families with us and with you as Lord Black then it will make this ten times easier than it would be with just me and Lily. Please Padfoot!"

Sirius was rather reluctant as James explained things.

"I don't know James…"

"What about Remus!" Lily jumped in.

"What about him Lils?" James asked, interested in what his wife had to say.

"If we were on the Wizengamot then we could help change werewolf laws!" Lily exclaimed excitedly.

Sirius turned this around in his mind but was still sceptical.

"But what about the pureblood bigots like Malfoy, he's on the Wizengamot, what will happen with him?"

That made Lily and James stir in silence for a moment, clearly not having thought about that.

Finally, James answered Sirius, a well thought out plan in place.

 **Huh. I never knew James thought that much.**

"His wife is Narcissa, right?" Sirius nodded in affirmation, "Well, that means she is also under the control of the House of Black as she was born a Black. That means in the long run that the Malfoy family would be under the protection of the House of Black and if Narcissa brought up her son in the Black customs, like she was supposed to, then he would have been brought up to be the Black heir…"

"But I made Harry the Black heir!"

"We know that but does Narcissa know that? You said it yourself, you lost contact with her after she had Draco? Is that his name? Yeah. So, she might think that Draco is the heir of the fortune. If so then that would make them suck up to you, trying to secure that position in power, and thus having them under your thumb. Eventually, making them do whatever you want!" He finished proudly.

Sirius nodded his head at the idea and finally said, "That is a very Slytherin plan James, is there something we don't know?"

James rolled his eyes exasperated and replied, "Oh very funny! You are such a tease sometimes!"

"Well you both are troublemakers and weird ass partners in crime!" Lily retorted, shocking both Sirius and James.

"That hurts right here Lils," James pointed at his heart as he teased more, "when would I, James Potter, ever pull a prank?"

"Oh, I don't know? How about all the time?" Lily remarked, leaving two laughing men and one laughing woman in the Hospital Wing.

Lily started to stroke Harry's hair as their laughter died down.

"It could work y'know…" Sirius finally conceded.

The other two turned to look at him, a triumphant expression on their faces.

"So, when do we start?" James queried.

Lily thought about this and replied to them both, "First we need to talk to Remus…"

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter and in the next chapter James, Sirius and Lily will reunite with Remus! YAY!

I am probably way too excited about writing that. It seems that politics will be involved in the story. Uh. I may hate politics in real life but I think it will be cool in the Wizarding World for some really weird reason.

Hope you are having an AWESOME summer! Bye!


	13. Chaos

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages._ **Thoughts of the narrator.**

 **WARNING: MAJOR WRITERS BLOCK AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

* * *

 _Chapter 13: Chaos_

Amelia Bones wasn't one for liking chaos much. She liked everything to be organised and in control, thank you very much. So, when the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, burst into her office (uninvited), insisting that the Potters were back and that Sirius Black was innocent, all hell broke loose.

"W-What do you mean the Potters are back? And what do you mean Black was innocent?" Amelia all but shrieked.

The Minister fumbled with his green bowler hat in his hand, a nervous expression on his face. He tried to explain but his words ended up being intervals of random words forming an incoherent sentence -this enraged Amelia more.

"For Merlin's sake! Speak man!" She roared, making the man babble on quickly about his meeting, the explanation was still jumbled though.

Amelia pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration as she sighed dramatically; the Minister abruptly stopped his stuttering and focused on the Head of the DMLE.

"Minister, I am very tired and have had a very stressful day so far. I would appreciate it if you didn't make this day any harder then it will be. So, could you please put your memory of the meeting in this pensieve," she accioed a deep, yellow basin and planted it on her desk, "then I will watch the meeting instead of listening to your abysmal explanation, it will be very valued." Amelia finished her tirade, albeit breathlessly, as a now very frightened Cornelius Fudge brought his wand up to his temple and pulled out a long, silvery stream of light from his head -a memory.

The man dropped the memory into the basin, hand still trembling. An angry Amelia was a scary Amelia.

You did exactly what she said. That was what the Minister did. He waited for Amelia whilst she delved into the basin, anxious to see the meeting. The Minister strolled over to where a decanter of firewhiskey lay and poured himself a hefty amount of the golden liquid into one of the fragile glasses then went back to Amelia's desk and sat down in one of the chairs infront of the desk, mulling over his chaotic day. Cornelius took a large gulp of the drink and waited for the Head of the DMLE.

* * *

Meanwhile, Amelia was shocked at what she was seeing.

She was in the Minister's office -in the memory-, waiting for the Potters. What was shocking was that there were files everywhere. Old, private and sealed files. And the Minister was reading some of the classified files whilst he laid back in his rather comfy chair, drinking a substantial amount of wine.

 _Clearly the Minister started the memory a bit earlier then he should have._ Amelia contemplated, also thinking that she would investigate the Minister's doings.

All of a sudden, the fireplace roared a bright green, signifying that someone was coming through. The Minister choked on some of his wine, spilling it down himself, as he saw Lily Potter step out of the fireplace.

"Oh, you must be Cornelius Fudge." The woman greeted politely as she extended her hand. The Minister gaped at the redhead infront of him, who withdrew her hand from a non-existent handshake, as the fireplace roared the same brilliant green and out stepped James Potter, who promptly tripped over some of the many files on the floor. Lily huffed as she picked James off of the polished floor.

"You are so clumsy James! I don't know what I am going to do with you!"

James made a fake hurt expression as he turned to his wife and said, "You wound me Lily Flower. It's hard to suddenly be back alive I'll have you know!"

Lily rolled her eyes as she retorted, "Oh yeah, real hard for you isn't it. It's not like our son thinks we're dead or anything-"

"Technically we were dead." James interrupted.

Lily huffed and gestured with her hands, making it obvious that she wasn't too impressed with what he said, and hauled James out of the way when the fireplace, once again, shone green.

This time out stepped Hermione Granger, soot covering her clothes.

Lily quickly cleaned the witch up with a spell as her, James and Hermione sat down infront of the Minister's desk, waiting for two other people –Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff.

James quickly got bored and started to look around the Minister's office as the Minister stood frozen near the fireplace. Hermione was quietly telling Lily what had happened since she was…indisposed.

"Voldemort was defeated by Harry and he became the Boy-Who-Lived, making him famous all around the world." Lily smiled as she heard that her baby boy was alive and well.

"Who was he given to? I know for a fact that Dumbledore must have done something to frame Sirius and Peter was the traitor. I hate that we were used by Dumbledore in his little game. I hope he hasn't done anything with Harry…or you for that matter Hermione." Lily rambled on.

Hermione now had a nervous expression on her face as she remembered Harry telling the heart-breaking story of what happened to him at the Dursley's. Lily must have caught her expression as she asked what was wrong but Hermione was saved by Rowena and Helga stepping out of the fireplace, making the Minister faint.

Amelia was also in a shocked state. Her mouth was wide open and she couldn't believe that two of the Founders were back from the dead.

 _If two of them are back then the other two must be back as well._

"He's not the most competent Minister, is he?" Lily pointed out.

James shrugged his shoulders as he took his wand out of his pocket (he had gone into the Potter Vault at Gringotts and had retrieved his and Lily's wand) and pointed it at the Minister.

"Rennervate."

The Minister jolted awake and looked around the room, into the faces of the five, and promptly fainted again.

James rolled his eyes as Lily huffed in annoyance.

"We could just leave him here?" James suggested.

"And do what? Walk around the Ministry whilst everyone thinks we're dead along with Helga and Rowena?" Lily retorted.

"No need to get snappy at me!" James exclaimed.

Lily stood up from her seat and yelled in James' face, "ME GET SNAPPY AT YOU? YOU JUST SUGGESTED THAT WE WALTZ THROUGH THE MINISTRY TO TRY AND FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL BELIEVE WE ARE ALIVE!"

"I DIDN'T SUGGEST THAT, YOU DID!"

Lily flailed her arms around in a dramatic manner, making her point.

"OH, IT'S NEVER YOUR FAULT IS IT POTTER? ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSES! FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE GROW UP AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY! WE HAVE BEEN MISSING FROM OUR SON'S LIFE FOR ELEVEN YEARS! I AM WORRIED ABOUT HIM AND WANT TO SEE HIM AS FAST AS I CAN AND I DON'T THINK LEAVING THE MINISTER HERE, WHO PROBABLY DOESN'T EVEN THINK WE'RE THE REAL DEAL, ISN'T GOING TO HELP!"

Lily finished her tirade and stared lividly into James' eyes. Hermione, Helga and Rowena had backed away from the couple as the argument escalated and checked on Fudge.

James, meanwhile, was now flushing with embarrassment and began to apologise to Lily. "I'm sorry Lily. I didn't think-"

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM JAMES! YOU DON'T THINK! SOMETIMES I THINK THAT WE SHOULDN'T HAVE A CHILD BECAUSE I ALREADY HAVE ONE: YOU!" Lily interrupted James and stormed off to the other side of the office, leaving a scared and sorry James behind and three shocked girls behind.

 _Wow. I always remember Lily exploding at James in school but I never thought that they would fight when they were married._ (A/N: I don't know when Amelia's birthday is because it just says pre-1978, so I'm guessing that she was at school with the Marauders but I don't know for sure. Sorry if I've found wrong information!)

 _Wait. If the Minister fainted then how come I'm seeing this?_

As Amelia thought this she saw Fudge lift his head up a little as Hermione, Helga and Rowena stepped away from him.

 _Clearly Fudge is sneakier then I thought. He's also a very good actor if he could fake fainting twice and no one notice. Probably comes with wanting to get out of so many meetings with people he doesn't like so he acts ill._ Amelia thought.

James was now torn between going over to his wife or staying away from his wife so not to anger her more.

Lily slid down the wall, tears in her eyes as James slowly, timidly walked over to her.

 _Clearly, he thought it would be easier to go over to her and possibly get killed rather than not going over there and getting killed later._

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have suggested that…or snap at you. Am I forgiven?" James asked, slightly terrified of the answer.

Lily nodded her head as her husband held out a hand to help her up.

"I'm sorry as well. I just want to see Harry and being back it's messing with my head and seeing you again…I heard you die James…it was the worst moment of my life. I never thought I would see you or Harry again. I was so scared. I just…snapped. All of my hatred for Dumbledore and what he did to our family…to many families. It hurts James. And I don't know how to fix it, so I gave it out on you, and that's not right James. It's not…" Lily's weeping was muffled as James brought her into a tight embrace, trying to calm her.

Everyone turned around a couple of awkward minutes later as the Minister pretended to groan as he 'woke'.

"How are you feeling?" Helga asked politely, crouching down to the Minister.

The Minister still looked shocked but answered her question quickly. "I-I'm alright. Just a bit shocked."

James snorted and intervened, "Yeah, you can imagine how we felt about being back after eleven years! It was a major shock!"

"James…" Lily started, frustrated. James now shrank back and kissed Lily to make her happy.

"Can we go and confirm that we are who we say we are because I would very much like to meet our son and get Sirius freed from Azkaban." Lily directed at the Minister who was astonished that someone, especially a muggleborn witch, was talking to the Minister of Magic like that. Instead of saying something intelligent like saying that he would get on with things he said this, "Do you mean Sirius Black?" Lily and James nodded, "How do you know that Black was in Azkaban?"

Lily sighed and asked, "Can we go see the Head of the DMLE, it would make things a lot quicker?"

The Minister didn't have time to answer as the other people in the room started to leave his office as the Minister still laid on the floor, looking like an idiot.

James came around the corner and into the Minister's office, stuck his head in and asked Fudge, "You gonna show us the way to the office?"

And at this the memory ended and Amelia was forced out of the memory, wondering about what she had seen.

* * *

She turned around, as she was facing the back wall of her office, and saw James Potter, Lily Potter, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and a bushy haired girl sitting infront of her desk, the Minister slumped on the floor, a glass of firewhiskey in his hand.

James saw Amelia's eyes cast towards Fudge and answered her question. "Apparently, he can't hold his drink."

Lily rolled her eyes.

This was going to be a very long day for Amelia.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry for not updating in a while. As you saw at the start of the chapter I had MAJOR writers block and had no idea what to write, then school started and I have a pile of homework to do so that made me have less time to write. But I hope you like this chapter! If you're confused this takes place during the two hours which went unaccounted for in chapter 7. Bye guys!


	14. Secrets

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages._ **Thoughts of the narrator.**

* * *

 _Chapter 14: Secrets_

An hour and a half later, Amelia was free from the hands of the Potters and Sirius Black. There were old files covering her now overflowing desk, the Minister with his cheeks flushed in embarrassment as he looked down and saw that Black had removed his trousers. Amelia and James had snorted in amusement when Sirius pulled his prank on the pompous Minister, Lily berating them for such childish actions, Helga and Rowena silently giggling to themselves and the final witch -who she had learnt was Hermione Granger- was sitting utterly lost and uncomfortable in the situation.

Just before they left, Amelia pulled Hermione aside and whispered into her ear, "Don't worry if you feel uncomfortable around them at first, it will get better as time goes on. I know you'll find a way to make this situation the best it can be. You're a smart witch. Susan, my niece, speaks very highly of you. She says you're the brightest witch of your age." Hermione began to walk away when Amelia pulled her back again, "Oh, and, try to avoid James and Sirius' pranks. They pull them a lot. And I mean a lot!"

With that the large group had left with Sirius going last, laughing his shaggy head off.

The Minister was still in a very shocked and embarrassed mood and Amelia couldn't help herself in scaring and embarrassing the Minister more. "You know Minister, I would love to read some of those files in your office, maybe Black's case file is in there, do you think I could have a look?"

And with that Cornelius Fudge scuttled out of the Head of the DMLE's office, no trousers on his legs, shocked, embarrassed and scared as hell whilst Amelia Bones leant back in her chair and reminisced about her time at Hogwarts with the Marauders and then thinking about how funny it was to see the Minister tongue tied.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Hogwarts, Dumbledore was scared. Very scared. Not that he would admit it though. He was the great Albus Dumbledore, nothing scared him…apart from Harry and Hermione finding out about their soul bond.

He was pacing back and forth in his office, a vacant expression on his face, like he didn't know what to feel…anything but scared. He had contacted Molly Weasley, saying that something had upset the plan, just a little. But it wasn't just a little. It was a huge upset. Molly didn't know that Harry and Hermione were soulmates, per say.

She only knew that once Harry married Ginny and got her pregnant, then Harry will be disposed of and the Weasleys would be filthy rich.

Dumbledore was pulled out of his thoughts as his fireplace roared a terrifying green, revealing a very concerned Molly Weasley infront of Dumbledore's eyes, which were devoid of a twinkle, and she stepped out of the fireplace and walked up to the Headmaster.

"Whatever is wrong, Albus?" Molly queried, sweat coming from her brow, afraid of being caught by someone.

Dumbledore grabbed Molly's trembling hands, trying to stop her shaking, and led her to a chair infront of his desk.

Molly sat down as Dumbledore peered out the window to see Snape storming around the grounds. _I wonder what he is doing that for?_

Dumbledore decided to push the matter aside and sat across from the Weasley matriarch.

He mentally sighed and started to explain everything.

"Did you know that Harry had disappeared from the station, Molly?"

Molly nodded her head as she answered, "It was me who raised the alarm, Albus. Arthur and I couldn't get back through the barrier at first but eventually we were able to go back and we found poor Ronald, alone, and panicking because, as he explained, Harry was behind him but when he turned around, the boy had gone."

Dumbledore inclined his head as Mrs Weasley continued her explanation.

"I realised this wasn't part of our plan and apparated to the school grounds and found Professor McGonagall and told her that Harry was missing. Soon she was getting letters from students, saying that other students were missing-"

"Neville and Emma…" Dumbledore finished.

Molly nodded her head.

"We both began to search the castle but had no luck, once the students arrived, Ron told Hermione about what had happened and that is all I know up until now." Molly spat out Hermione's name as she continued her tirade.

The truth is, she didn't like muggles or muggleborns. She hated them. Secretly, she was just like the other purebloods. She had been brought up to know that she would be a Lady of an Ancient and Noble House when she married, but that was far from the case.

There were two reasons she had married Arthur: 1) she loved him, despite loving muggles and muggleborns and 2) at the time, his family was very rich.

The Weasleys were a very rich family but after Voldemort was defeated, tax became a lot higher and with many children to feed and then Molly's husband not having a well-paid job, the money started to dwindle.

Molly didn't help the matter. She splashed the money as she thought she deserved the same things as other pureblood Ladies. With the dwindling money came hard times.

To have a seat on the Wizengamot, the family needs at least 500,000 galleons in their vault at all times. Quickly, the Weasleys lost their seat on the Wizengamot.

The reason she hated most of the pureblood families was because she envied them. She envied their lifestyle. And when the great Albus Dumbledore came to her with a plan that made her rich and famous, she jumped at the chance.

And she was very scared right now. Scared that she would lose the money she had already been paid and that she would be sent to Azkaban for line theft.

She already knew that Harry might not be attracted to Ginny at first, so she concocted a plan. She would send Ginny a love potion and Ginny would infuse it into her perfume, add a lust potion, and voila! An heir for the Potter and Weasley line is conceived.

She didn't know how Harry would be killed but she knew that she could trust Dumbledore with anything. It didn't really matter to her if Ginny actually love Harry, her daughter would see the purpose of him being killed as she got older and she would get over him.

What Molly didn't understand is that later on Ginny saw the error of her ways and loved Harry. And that meant letting him go. Not that Molly knew this, nor did Dumbledore, Ron, the heirs or Ginny.

All Molly knew was that she wanted to give her children the best life possible. And if that meant messing up someone else's life, so be it.

There was a slight pause of silence as Molly and Dumbledore thought about everything. Molly thinking about what she would do with all the money she would have and Dumbledore thinking how to tell the scary woman infront of him that her daughter might, and he meant might, not end up with the last Potter.

 **Well he's not the last Potter anymore! Not that the Headmaster knows that…**

"Molly, the reason I called you here was because there has been a hiccup in the plan." Dumbledore explained slowly.

"Harry may or may not have found out that we are stealing from him…" He explained cautiously.

Molly was seeing red. Her face was redder than her hair.

"WHAT!" The woman exploded.

Albus inwardly cringed at the pitch of the shriek and continued, trying to calm her down.

"The Founders have come back somehow and they know what we have done to the children. They told their heirs and they have defriended Ron but I have made progress."

The matriarch seemed to calm down at this and leaned forward to listen to the wizard. "Go on…" She prompted, sceptical.

"I have…convinced the Minister to join our plan and he sent Emma Byrne's parents back to Ireland and they took Emma with them." Dumbledore finished excitedly whilst Mrs Weasley sat there with a confused expression on her face.

"What does that have to do with our problem?"

Dumbledore now had the twinkle back in his eye and he smirked a fraction. "Well, Emma's family has a lot of power politically but if she's not here then who will tell the heirs and Hermione about the Wizengamot and how much power they have politically?"

There was another pause as Albus picked up a piece of parchment from his shiny desk. Molly contemplated the plan about the Wizengamot but then remembered something that the Headmaster seemed to forget.

"What about Augusta Longbottom?"

Dumbledore looked up from the parchment piece, which had his plan on, and focused on the redhead. "What about her?"

"If she tells the children about the Wizengamot then she'll be their mentor and follow whatever she says, meaning that they won't be under our control, and Neville will already know about the Wizengamot as he is the next Lord Longbottom."

Dumbledore brought up his fingers and placed them infront of him and contemplated what to do in this situation. "Hmm…I'm not sure about what to do with Augusta…yet."

Molly slowly nodded her head and looked around the Headmaster's office, wondering how she could make Harry trust her.

"There is something I need to tell you, Molly."

The woman whipped her head around as he name was called, all her attention on the old man infront of her.

"Harry and Hermione," he started, "they share a soul bond," Mrs Weasley had now drained of all colour and had a vulnerable, terrified look in her eyes, "but I wrapped my magic around the part of Hermione and Harry's brain which connects them together. I'm a little worried that it wasn't enough though as Hermione has persisted in being Harry's friend and I have a feeling Harry trusts Hermione more than anyone else. It's quite a complicated spell to perform on someone, especially since she's a young age, but that didn't stop me from doing it before although if she doesn't explore the bond with Harry a little bit then it will cause her to go insane and there are many stories of soulmates being blocked from one another and none of them end well. The Ministry will also become suspicious as they are in the book of souls and they check on them from the age of twelve onwards, to check that they haven't gone insane, and I just got a letter from the Ministry stating that they would be here in a week to check the bond between Harry and Hermione." Dumbledore finished his explanation as Molly now looked petrified about the consequences of their plan but tried to look on the bright side of things.

"You could say that Granger's parents were informed of the bond and they didn't understand it properly and they asked for their daughter to be kept safe and so you blocked of that part of her mind." Molly suggested.

Dumbledore ran through that plan in his mind and finally stated that it could work.

"Then I could imperio the man or woman, to say that everything was ok, let Granger go insane, which will send Harry over the edge and not trust her, and Ginny could use a love potion to seduce Harry. It's a perfect idea!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

Molly nodded enthusiastically and grabbed a drink of firewhiskey from one of the cabinets in the office and proposed a toast, "To Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard the world has ever seen!" She bellowed. They both clinked their drinks together and drank to their new-found plan and didn't hear the faint snap of a house elf's fingers, whisking the elf away to a Manor.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! I don't really like this chapter but I thought it would be better than nothing. And we get to see some of the Malfoys in the next chapter and I hope everyone understand the soul bond. I tried not to make it too simple but not complicated at the same time…I have no idea if that's how it reads but I hope you understand it! Also in the next chapter, after we visit the Malfoys, we will get back to the actual time with Harry unconscious in the Hospital Wing and the heirs and Luna trying to find the Founders. Bye!


	15. Narcissa Malfoy and her big mistakes

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages._ **Thoughts of the narrator.**

* * *

 _Chapter 15: Narcissa Malfoy and her big mistakes_

"And that's the end of it master…" A small elf with green eyes the size of tennis balls finished explaining.

His master sat in a black, leather chair, a dark aura clung in the atmosphere of the study as the man used his piercing, grey eyes to bore into the huge orbs below him.

"Is there something you are not telling me?" The man asked, slowly, a perfect eyebrow raised. The elf's eyes widened (if they could get any bigger) as his master realised there was something Dobby wasn't telling master Lucius. His ears flattened against his head as the Malfoy asked Dobby another question.

"Did you see someone else whilst at Hogwarts?" This time there was a harsh crisp to the tone of the blonde, a sneer curling his lip. This time the elf couldn't lie to his master.

"Dobby is sorry for lying to you master and disobeying your orders but I had to see if Harry Potter was okay, sir. Dobby was doing extra work for you master. I be watching Harry Potter's friends, sir. Dobby saw Harry Potter's Grangey, sir." The elf spoke quickly, knowing he would have to punish himself after his master had talked to him.

The older man's eyes became very cold as he spat out the name of Harry's friend. "Miss Granger you mean?"

Dobby nodded his head vigorously, "Yes, sir."

"And what was she doing?"

"She was crying, sir. Dobby assumes she was crying about Harry Potter. She kept repeating that he might die, sir. And that he might not wake up from his sleep."

A slight smirk teased at the corner of Lucius' mouth, pleased to hear that Potter might be dying.

"That is all, Dobby."

The elf scurried out of the room as his master picked up his crystal wine glass from the side table next to the chair, and took a sip from the glass as a presence walked into the room. A very graceful presence.

"Why did you send Dobby to Hogwarts?" A soft voice called out to her husband.

"It doesn't matter, Narcissa." The tired voice of Lucius Malfoy responded.

The woman now glided across the darkened room to face her husband and replied in a harsher tone then his, "It matters to me."

Lucius rolled his eyes and changed his answer. "It doesn't concern you."

Narcissa now had a miffed look on her face as she surveyed her husband, noticing the smell of perfume –that wasn't hers- and returned, "You are my husband and what you do with our house elves concerns me as it concerns you! So, tell me what you sent Dobby to do in Hogwarts!"

Lucius was losing his patience with his wife and just stood up from his chair and walked to his desk on the opposite side of the room and poured himself another glass of wine. Unfortunately, Narcissa followed him, her heels clicking as she shouted at him.

"Fine! I will go ask Dobby to tell me what you asked him to do! It's like you don't trust me anymore," Lucius looked up at her and saw that she was about to cry, and Narcissa never did that, "it's like you don't love me anymore…" Oh. That's what this is about.

Lucius sighed and sat in the desk chair and pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking about his love life. "I do still love you…just…" He trailed off.

His wife seemed to finish his explanation for him, "Just not as you used to." Tears were now trekking down her pale cheeks, her eyes going puffy and red as she continued to think about how much her relationship with her husband had deteriorated over the years. Lucius sighed again as Narcissa's tears wouldn't stop falling from her eyes.

"It's not like that," he rubbed his face with both hands as Narcissa still stood there, unable to move, "it's just…different now…one day I love you and the next you annoy me to no end and…I'm tired of it all. I want to know whether you love me or not and whether I love you or not. It's…complicated."

Narcissa finally decided she would move and stalked to the front of his desk and leaned on the desk to place her face right infront of his and said with such venom, "Let me make it clear to you, when you sleep with other women that aren't your wife then you clearly don't love your wife anymore, when you never ask your wife whether she wanted more than one child then clearly you've lost the plot, when you haven't kissed your wife in six months you clearly don't think about how your wife is feeling…and when you spend more time with your best friend instead of your wife then you clearly have a problem!"

She threw his glass of wine in his face and left the room, Lucius shouting out her name, but she couldn't hear it. All she could hear was her blood ringing loudly in her ears, fury bubbling up inside her as she made her way upstairs and locked herself in the master bedroom.

Narcissa didn't know what to think. She did love her husband but she didn't think it was the same love they shared years ago in Hogwarts. She slid down the back of door and crumpled into a heap on the cold, polished floor, sobbing and weeping.

She always cried when she thought of letting go. She would be letting go her husband and may not see her son in the holidays…and that's what upset her the most. She never really got to be around Draco when he was a baby. She was just there to have pureblood children and to act like a perfect pureblood lady. She also had no one to talk to. She had stopped talking to Andromeda because her family had banished her sister from the family but that didn't stop Narcissa from writing to her sister, no, it was her husband that made her stop writing to her favourite sister. He didn't abuse her…it was a one off, she always told herself, he was just drunk. He had hit her when he found out she was contacting her 'no good, slut of a sister' and had hit her, it wasn't a hard hit but hard enough to bruise Narcissa's pale skin.

Narcissa wiped a tear from her now bloodshot eyes as she remembered how many people she had lost from the war. She had stopped talking to Sirius too, her favourite cousin, again, it was because of her husband and family. But there was also so many other reasons. She remembered how many friends she had lost as well. She hadn't just lost one sister though. She had also lost Bellatrix. Bellatrix had become fixated on Voldemort. She was obsessed with him and would do anything for him. Sirius kept popping into her head as she thought about all the times she lost contact with people. But loosing Sirius was the most hurtful.

He had always been there for her in her time of need. He always hurt the Slytherin boys when they catcalled Narcissa, making her feel uncomfortable. He looked after her when she was crying, even when she yelled at him during her crying session, and he was always there to comfort her when Lucius Malfoy, her then boyfriend, shouted or lied to her.

Sirius was a better friend than anyone else. Not even her best friend could compare. But she had lost it all.

Her friends. Her family. All because of Lucius.

That was another thing to cry about. How Lucius had taken away all her family and friends. He even had part in Bella becoming insane.

It was no wonder Narcissa had had an affair. She didn't want to have an affair but one night she had lost it. Lucius had come home, smelling of another woman's perfume, clearly dishevelled, and completely wasted.

Narcissa wasn't in her right frame of mind after her argument with her husband. She knew deep down that the affairs meant nothing to Lucius but she couldn't help the tug on her heart as he rambled on about how annoying she was and how much fun this other girl was.

She had snapped.

And that was the day that Narcissa Malfoy had truly snapped. It was the day where she realised she didn't love Lucius Malfoy anymore. It was a day she would always remember. She always began the story of this day when she threw the glass of wine in Lucius' face, staining his clothes and hair.

This was the story she told Sirius Black the next time she saw him. Which was very soon actually. On Saturday.

Narcissa had gotten a letter from Sirius Black explaining that he would love to see her again. So that is exactly what she was doing.

* * *

It was lunch time and the sun was beating down on Narcissa Malfoy's back, heating up her clothes as she walked up the hill towards Hogwarts. She held Sirius' letter in her hand, it scrunching up as she kept clenching her fists in anxiety. What would Sirius say when she saw him? Why was Sirius out of Azkaban?

Like normal, Sirius didn't write much in his letter. Not even informing her about when, how and why he was out of Azkaban.

But Narcissa knew that it had something to do with Harry Potter. The last letter she had gotten from Sirius was at the start of August 1980, stating that he was now the godfather, or dogfather as he put, to newly born Harry James Potter. She could tell that Sirius was ecstatic about being a godfather. And with that letter she knew that Draco wouldn't be the Black heir, but that didn't bother her. She knew if Draco was anything like his father then he couldn't handle all of the stress to do with lordships. Draco wouldn't be able to handle the Wizengamot with two lordships. He couldn't be Lord Malfoy or Lord Black, even individually.

That sounded bad that she thought that but she knew if Lucius continues to bring him up the same way he was brought up then it wouldn't be good for Draco.

But Narcissa had a plan. She would gain control over her family. Her family would be how it was supposed to be. And Sirius was going to help her.

* * *

She arrived outside the Hospital Wing and saw Sirius pacing outside the doors, a worried expression clear on his face.

Narcissa took a deep breath and walked up to him, he looked straight into her eyes.

"Narcissa…" He whispered, astonished that she came, tears were in his eyes.

Narcissa nodded her head and they both enveloped each other in a hug, afraid to let go and realise it wasn't real. But it was real. And that seemed magical to them.

Once they pulled apart, Sirius held the woman at arm's length, surveying the differences in her.

"Your hairs longer," he said, stroking her now waist length hair, "you have a lot more wrinkles," he got hit on the shoulder for that one, "I'm kidding! But your eyes…they're the same but with less…Narcissa sparkle."

Narcissa squinted her eyes at him. "Narcissa sparkle?" She asked sceptically.

The shaggy man nodded his head. "They're duller than before I left. Less life in them. They're not full of love anymore but hatred. Your son, sadly, looks nothing like you. He looks like that bastard." Sirius now had a hateful glint in his dark eyes, making him look twice as scary, signs of years in Azkaban resurfacing.

Narcissa sighed as she stated plainly, "I know…"

Sirius dropped his arms from hers and rubbed his face with his hands, reminding Narcissa of her husband, and started pacing again infront of his cousin.

"What the hell happened to us Cissy?" He asked helplessly. "We were so close! And then with the birth of your son we lost the closeness…why? All I want to know is why?"

Sirius had been flailing his arms around, extenuating his point.

Narcissa took a shaky breath and answered her cousin. "It was war Sirius, there were two sides-light and dark. My husband was on the dark side-still is. It would never have had worked. We couldn't still be friends…it was best that we didn't talk, in fear that we would reveal something to the other."

Sirius shook his head, "The war wasn't the problem Narcissa, I know it wasn't. What was the real reason?"

She was going to have to tell him. And it wasn't good.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for taking so long on this chapter but I didn't like it at first and decided to change it. But I hope you like it! I'm very sorry for those people who love Lucius and Narcissa together, it's just that me personally, I don't like them together and this is my story so I decided to incorporate it into the story. So why did Narcissa loose contact with Sirius? What's the big secret? The plot thickens…


	16. Unresolved tension

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages._ **Thoughts of the narrator.**

* * *

 _Chapter 16: Unresolved tension_

Narcissa stood there, unable to move or speak, as Sirius stared into her deep eyes.

"Well?" He muttered.

Narcissa opened her mouth but a strangled sound came out, like she was a cat hissing. She gave up eventually and just sighed. She was tired, emotional and felt sick.

All of these emotions ebbed away the surface of the perfect pureblood lady and released many years of anger, sadness and fear. She felt queasier as more emotions bubbled up inside her, gnawing away at her stomach, making her feel even more sick. Her face was now ghost white instead of their usual rosie tint and glittering tears tickled her grey eyes. But Narcissa couldn't feel the tears as she would have if she was younger, instead she was used to the sensation and the feeling gave her some sort of relief now. A relief knowing that her emotions slipped away in her tears and didn't stay in her body or mind. But that was never true. All the emotions stayed with her throughout the years, building up layer by layer. And now they were all tumbling out.

Her words left her mouth before her brain registered what she was doing. She ranted at Sirius for half an hour at least, taking pauses after one of her tirades had finished and was left gulping for air.

"And the first time her cheated on me was the night before our wedding. It was Blaise Zabini's mother. We were best friends! And before our wedding! Merlin above! And I forgave him, Sirius. I forgave him! He said that it was a one off, that it wouldn't happen again, why did I believe him, Sirius? Why?! I tried to brush it away but then she started to come to the house. I lost it. I started drinking…and…"

Sirius looked into his cousin's eyes; his eyes were full of tears too.

"And that's when I became a lot closer to you…why didn't you tell me he cheated? I would have dissolved the marriage immediately and he would pay for what he had done!"

Narcissa shook her head as she wiped away her tears wearily, "He would have just destroyed you politically or have claimed you were a death eater and have you locked up. I couldn't face losing you, Sirius."

She looked into Sirius' eyes and said something so quietly that Sirius almost thought that she hadn't said it.

"That's why I stopped writing to you…I was worried I was going to lose you. Lily told me of the prophecy-"

"Since when had you and Lily been close?" Sirius interrupted, shock electrifying his words.

"I'll explain it later on," Narcissa waved off, "the point is, Lily told me how if they- Lily and James- ended up dead then you would probably end up dead, or worse in Azkaban, and I knew that it was likely because you were their best friend, making you an obvious choice for Secret Keeper…I just couldn't go through another heart break. I just couldn't."

By this point the witch had scarlet tracks down her cheeks, standing out against her pale face, and choking out sobs as Sirius pulled her into another hug.

Sirius whispered comforting words into her hair. Narcissa now felt safe, a feeling she had long but forgotten, as Sirius pulled back from their embrace and wiped away her crystal tears.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you."

Sirius grasped Narcissa's face in his hands and told her in simple words, "I forgive you."

This time they hugged, again, but this hug was of happiness and not sadness.

There was an uncomfortable silence once they pulled back from each other, and a cold air separated them both. They each waited for the other to start again but nothing came for a long time.

"Remus came to me," Narcissa started, making Sirius look up from the floor he had been awkwardly staring at, "after you had been incarcerated…I gave him the spare room and free range of the house but he just sat on the bed, crying. I brought food for him three times a day, every day…but he wouldn't touch it. I was scared that he was going to go insane from all the crying. It must have been so hard for him with you not there and Lily and James dead then Pettigrew presumed dead…I tried to talk to him but he just sat on the bed, not moving and it didn't seem that he was listening. I knew that he was a werewolf thanks to you, so I asked Severus to brew some wolfsbane…"

"WHAT?!" Sirius bellowed at Narcissa.

"He didn't ask any questions, honestly," Narcissa said, trying to calm down Sirius and succeeding, "and he didn't leave the room, I checked on him the next couple of days, making sure he was alright and one morning I went to check up on him and he was gone. No note, no goodbye. But the next week I got a letter from him, thanking me for my hospitality but it was hardly legible, he must have been trembling. He said that he knew you weren't the Secret Keeper but he couldn't say anything because of his condition. I tried to explain to the Wizengamot about you and what Remus said but because I explained that he sent a letter to me, saying that you weren't responsible, they wouldn't accept it. That was the moment I knew I really hated the Wizengamot and the werewolf laws."

Sirius nodded his head in understanding as he listened to Narcissa talk about how the Wizengamot had changed, who was still on the Wizengamot and who had joined. He nodded his head dully as she continued, his mind somewhere else.

"Sirius, are you even listening to me?!" The blonde witch snapped at him.

Sirius looked into his cousin's cold, steely eyes, his mind still unfocused, and asked, "What?"

Narcissa sighed, infuriated with the man. "Honestly Sirius! How on earth do you expect to go to the Wizengamot, survive for at least three seconds, and outrun Dumbledore politically if you don't even listen!?" But he wasn't listening…

 **As per usual…**

His mind was racing with worry and doubt.

Narcissa bit her lip in anxiety, worried about what Azkaban had done to her cousin.

Narcissa closed her eyes and plucked up the courage to make him concentrate. She took a deep breath, and before Sirius could even see her hand move, the witch had slapped him hard on the face, leaving a scorching red mark on his hollowed cheek.

Immediately, Sirius brought his hand up to his cheek and let out an exclaimed 'Ow!'.

"What the HELL was that for?" He insisted whilst Narcissa gazed at the man like he was an interesting creature who was in the wrong habitat.

"Your mind was clearly elsewhere and I don't think there should be any secrets between us…so why don't you tell me what is wrong and then we, well, you, can concentrate. So, what is so distracting? It better not be how many ways you can confess your undying love to Remus over and over again, I had nightmares the last time you told me that because you explained it in very precise detail!"

Sirius quirked a sad smile as he remembered that conversation but instead said, "It's best if I show you what's on my mind…"

* * *

Hermione had abandoned Neville, Tom and Luna and had made her way to the Hospital Wing to check up on Harry.

She had a sinking feeling that he could have gotten worse or that something else had happened and she hadn't been told.

Hermione knew in her mind that it was just the soul bond making her feel sick with worry instead of concrete evidence or theory that something had made Harry's condition worsen. But she had to be sure. Tucked deep in the back of her brain she knew Harry was alright as he was with Madam Pomfrey, yet something kept nagging at her saying that Harry would feel safer if she was at his side.

It had only taken her a couple of minutes to reach the Wing as she had sprinted through the polished corridors of the grand castle, the feeling of doubt increasing with every step she took and the worry escalated more as she got nearer the doors of the infirmary, bile tickling the back of her throat as more drastic thoughts of what might have happened danced around in her brain. Fresh tears prickled her eyes, glazing them over, as she pushed open the heavy door, revealing Madam Pomfrey in her office, scanning over paperwork.

The witch looked up from her papers for a quick second and saw the younger witch shaking as she staggered to the Medi-Witch's office door.

Madam Pomfrey quickly stood up from her chair, making it screech as it skidded back, and made her way to Hermione and held out her arms as the girl collapsed into her.

"Oh no…I assume you have been worrying too much," the Matron said, holding a frail hand to Hermione's sweaty forehead.

She guided the girl to a bed and laid her down on the soft, white sheets as the Matron plucked her wand from her robes and checked over the bushy-haired girl.

The witch sighed as she lowered her wand and looked at Hermione.

"Your soul bond is very powerful Miss Granger."

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the statement.

"What do you mean?"

"A soul bond links the emotions of the two people together and sends the emotions of each other to the other. If one of the bonded is in trouble, hurt, not close to the other or in a comatose state, then the other become exceedingly worried. Normally, the worry isn't as big as yours is. The bond you and young Mister Potter share shows how much you care for each other as you worrying has made you sick and you have a high fever."

Hermione's big brown eyes widened at the new information as the Matron went back into her office and started to search the shelves for a specific potion.

She returned with two vials in her hand and passed one of them to Hermione, who drank it immediately.

"That was to try and calm down your fever…and…this one is Dreamless Sleep," Hermione stared at Madam Pomfrey as if she was crazy, "don't worry Miss Granger. I promise taking just one won't make you addicted and you look like you could use some good night sleep."

Hermione nodded her head in understanding and took the vial from Madam Pomfrey and drank it in one gulp. In seconds the witch was knocked out and lying still on the bed.

* * *

Lily Potter roamed the halls of Hogwarts, making her way to the dungeons to see someone.

She passed many students on her way, some Slytherins sneered at her as she walked past them, but chose to ignore them, her mind racing with other things.

She elegantly descended the stairs to where the Potions classroom was and came across a certain blonde haired boy whose face was curled into a horrid snarl as he stepped straight infront of Lily, blocking her way.

"Is there some way I can help you?" She asked, clearly annoyed. Her tone of voice made the boy's snarl deepen.

"What are you doing here, mudblood?"

Lily's eyes flared with anger at the boy's use of words and she replied smoothly, "None of your business."

She tried to move around him but the boy moved with her and, again, blocked her way.

"If I let mudbloods like you waltz the dungeons then I wouldn't be at the top of the Slytherin hierarchy. So, I'm telling you to shove off and go back to your perfect son with his stupid scar and his broomstick."

When the boy finished his sentence, Lily knew immediately who he was- Draco Malfoy.

"If I didn't know any better Draco, I would say you liked my son but not in a friendly way. I've heard about how much you talk about him and how you always say he's so perfect. So, I wouldn't be so bold to instigate that I wasn't allowed to go anywhere when I have some pretty embarrassing stuff about you. Hopefully, next time you'll remember who you're dealing with and remember that I'm the mother of that boy you call perfect." Lily moved around Draco but this time he didn't try to stop her and she left him there with very flushed cheeks and left him very hot in embarrassment.

Some other kids Draco had been with had starting sniggering at the comments the redhead had made and were now laughing and pointing at the boy as they noticed how red he was.

A small smile creeped its way onto her face as the door to the Potions classroom flung open and Severus Snape walked out and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lily infront of him.

"Hi…we need to talk…"


	17. Unresolved tension Pt2

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages._ **Thoughts of the narrator.**

* * *

 _Chapter 17: Unresolved tension part 2_

Snape just stood there, unmoving and looking very confused.

Lily looked at Snape, wondering if he was going to move or say anything.

Eventually, the Potions Master nodded his head and muttered that they should talk somewhere more private.

Lily bit her lip. "I haven't been here in years! I have no idea where the private spaces are now."

Snape just gestured for her to follow him and they started down the corridor. The group of laughing Slytherins had disappeared, thankfully, and the Potions Master took a right turning before the stairwell, leading Lily into a dark room.

Severus grumbled a 'lumos' and his wand lit up brightly, light flooding the small area. Lily could now make out an outline of something on the wall infront of her- a painting.

The outer corners and sides of the painting were worn with age, the colours dull from how many times it had been touched. Lily was afraid that if she touched it, it would disintegrate. But Severus didn't approach the painting with extreme caution like the redhead did. Instead he muttered something under his breath, making sure Lily couldn't hear the words, and the portrait of a handsome young man swung open, creaking a little as it did.

The Potions Master stepped through the door way with ease, a cool air around him, but Lily felt like she didn't belong in the now pitch black room. There was a nagging feeling pulling at her senses. The portrait of the man glared icily at her. A wave of realisation washed over her. She didn't feel like she belonged there because she didn't.

This was the way to the quarters of the Head of Slytherin House. Lily assumed the man in the portrait was a Slytherin descendant with his pointed features and robes the colour of forest green and silver.

The steely eyes of the painting loomed over the redhead as she slowly stepped through the hole in the wall, her bright eyes trying to adjust to the lack of light, and brought her hand up to try and find the wall to guide her. Eventually, her eyes did adjust to the darkness, but she still stroked her pale hand across the dark stones, making sure she knew where she was going. Her hand was turning numb from the cold air rushing through the corridor, water dripped onto her clothed arm, leaving a streak of water as the drop ran down her arm.

Lily could make out the figure of the Potions Master, black cape swirling behind him, as he stepped into a lit room.

When Lily reached the door connecting to the room, she heard voices seeping through the crack between the door and the wall. She tiptoed across the hall and hid behind a segment of stones protruding from the rest of the wall, back pressing against the cold stone.

"She's gone insane, Severus, I'm telling you! Insane! And she got a letter from that traitor Sirius Black! I read the letter and that, that…man," a cold, low voice seethed, "wants to meet with her! Fudge didn't tell me that Black had been pardoned, what sort of Minister is he?!"

"A Minister that you bribe." The baritone voice of Severus remarked.

Lily dared to inch herself forward a little, just enough to see through the gap of the oak door without being seen, so she could see the heated conversation.

"I am very worried about what will happen if Narcissa tells the mutt everything that's happened since our wedding."

Lily could see a shock of platinum blonde hair swish through the air as a man she recognised paced in her line of sight –Lucius Malfoy.

Lily furrowed her eyebrows as the conversation continued, neither Lucius nor Severus realising that the woman was there, Lucius muttering and rambling on about everything he had done wrong in, what seemed, his entire life.

"And I got Fudge elected for Minister...and trust me," Lucius stopped pacing to face Severus, "it wasn't easy to get people to vote for him at first, but after I talked about money, they all flocked to me, showing support for Fudge, incompetent as he is. I've also practically kept the Ministry in form. Remember when we attacked the Ministry a couple of months before the Dark Lord's downfall," Lily assumed during the pause that Severus nodded as the man continued talking, annoying as his voice was, "it was me who told the old Minister what to do and how to handle the press. It was also me who gave Dumbledore information on what the Dark Lord was doing, and I have even acted as a spy for Dumbledore and he doesn't know that I'm still loyal to the Dark Lord and his ideals."

Lily could practically feel her ex-friend's eye roll as he heard common news spewing from his friend's mouth. Lily was having a hard time herself trying not to roll her eyes at the endless tirade that kept droning on. She pushed her body forward, trying to see more clearly what was going on, the dim light from the candles flickering in the room, bathing her face with the light that was there. She saw Snape dart his eyes to the door, to where she was standing, and their gazes locked. But Lily knew that he wouldn't say anything to give her away. She could see it in his eyes. During the years, she began to tell what every look from Severus meant. Whether it was from annoyance when James and the Marauders were around, to when he was around Lily, or even sneaking away from her when he was meeting with other Death Eaters.

Sometimes, when she was still at school, she would wish that she couldn't read people as well as she can. She noticed a lot when she looked at people's eyes. She could see if they hated her, if they were annoyed, if they were happy, sometimes she could tell secrets just by looking at them. But she always hated reading her friends. She hated the fact that she would know things that they didn't want anyone to know. And she hated the fact that she found out about Severus and his new-found friends who were against her. She hated knowing things sometimes. It made her vulnerable, and other people. Knowing things made her more powerful but made her more of a target. Lily remembered when James brought her to the Wizengamot for the first time. She knew a lot about some people, but not much about the others. And when she found out things about the others, she became a threat to them. She felt targeted by anyone that could make her feel vulnerable. She even got blackmailed a few times, there were even death threats, but she never told James, she didn't want to drag him into her problems and make them bigger.

And Snape had made her a massive target. She was already being monitored for being a muggleborn, but being the ex-best friend of a new Death Eater, she was tracked down after she graduated school and was hunted by Voldemort.

Lily was brought back from her memories as she heard Lucius say something very interesting.

"Dumbledore has since sent me a letter explaining that he plans on starting a war with the Potters and eventually destroying the family and their name. He says he will ruin the family name using his political power and wipe them out using his magical power," again, Severus looked to where the redhead was standing, "and he also wrote, saying that he planned to use Potter's soul bonded."

Snape's dark eyes snapped to his friend at this.

"Soul bonded?" Severus whispered, curiosity dripping in his words.

The blonde man nodded. "Yes. Dumbledore said that it was Potter's best friend, the mudblood. Although it was quite interesting what he said about the girl."

Snape narrowed his eyes at the blonde as he reached for a decanter of wine that stood on a black, wooden table and poured the liquid into two wine glasses, and offered one of them to the Potions Master, who accepted the glass.

"What do you mean by that?" Snape asked, not bothering to clear his dry throat with the wine in his glass.

On the other hand, Lucius sipped at his wine, a delicate air around him as he did, making him look more lord-like then he already did. But he answered with such curiosity that Snape had asked him about the soul bond with. "Apparently, the Headmaster has done some very bad things."

Lily could see Snape arch his eyebrow at that as he muttered about how Dumbledore had done many bad things, and that Lucius needed to be more specific.

"Would you believe me if I told you that the supposed leader of the Light messed with the Brookes family?" Lucius stared into his friend's eyes, seriousness deeply set into his face.

Severus stared back at the man in utter disbelief.

Even Lily was in shock. The Brookes were a very wealthy and powerful family who were originally from the high gardens of Italy. The family owned a castle in Venice, and they made money by being one of the most powerful families in the entire Magical World, and even the Muggle World. Most of the Ministries in the Magical World relied on the family to export supplies from the high gardens, making them richer, and their people and armies to stabilise countries in need, or to save the Ministry from destabilisation.

Lily remembered meeting with some of the family when she was on the Wizengamot as Lady Potter. She met with Lord Brookes, the Head of the family, and his wife, Lady Brookes.

Alessandro Brookes was a kind, gentle, wise and loving man who was well mannered and very skilled in politics. He had piercing silver eyes, the same colour as the rose sigil of his family, and chocolate brown hair with a sharp jaw and high cheekbones. He was incredibly smart and was a loyal warrior and defender. Lily remembered seeing him fighting against the Death Eaters when they once attacked the Ministry.

Raina Brookes, Alessandro's wife, was as kind and gentle as her significant other. She was also very smart and was just as loyal and fearsome as Alessandro. Her name was a variation of the word 'Queen' and she looked like a queen wherever she went, dress flowing behind her and an air of grandeur around her. Raina also had the look of a queen, with her gorgeous warm brown eyes to her long, flowing dark red hair like Lily's. She always wore silver and gold dresses, signifying her two houses; Brookes and Aurelia, her true born family. Her dresses were always stunning, like herself, and Lily couldn't help but become friends with Raina. Raina had a very bubbly personality and could make anyone laugh or crack a smile by her words. She was loved by all and was great friends with anyone and everyone. A lot of people were jealous of her as she was married to Alessandro but because of her lifestyle and her legendry beauty. Raina was also a skilled witch and loved learning new things about other countries and how they taught magic to the children.

She was originally from the 'golden' area of Venice, and her true born family were even richer than Alessandro's. Her marriage was an arranged one, a political move, but she eventually fell in love with her husband. They had had a daughter one year after they were married. The girl was born on 15th June 1970 and had dark brown hair like her father's, but had her mother's eyes. Lily had met her once and she was very shy but was extremely fierce when she opened up to someone. Lily remembered that the girl's name was Harriet, named after Alessandro's grandmother, who was even more beautiful than her mother.

"What did he do to the Brookes?"

Lily was catapulted out of her memories swirling around her brain by the unnatural tone of Snape's voice. Almost like he didn't know about it.

"You don't know?" The almost patronising tone of Lucius called out.

Obviously, Severus didn't know.

"Do you remember that Raina was pregnant with another girl just before the Dark Lord's fall?"

The redhead saw Snape nod his head at the man who kept sipping his fine wine.

"Turns out that girl she was pregnant with was Miss Hermione Granger."

Lily was beyond shocked that she took a step back at the news. Hermione couldn't possibly be a Brookes, could she? Lily weighed up the theory in her head and came to the conclusion that it could possibly be right. She casted her mind back to when she got a letter from Raina, saying that she had had a baby girl and had called her Hermione, after the Greek god of messaging, wit and intelligence.

The more she thought about it, the more logical it seemed. Lily knew Dumbledore wouldn't be able to hide Hermione if she had her true appearance, so he must have changed it using a blood glamour and placed her with the muggles. The way Hermione was mannered and how she presented herself, the way she listened to everything and everyone around her, analysing every detail she could. All typical pureblood traits.

"I must leave you now, Severus. Have a good day." And with that Lucius Malfoy grabbed a handful of floo powder and through it into the fireplace, and with a burst of green flames, he was gone.

Lily stood there for a couple of seconds, still in shock. She then pushed open the door and stepped into the light and moved her eyes to Severus.

"Did you, did you know?" Her voice cracked in the middle of her sentence, tears blurring her vision.

"I swear I didn't-"

"So, you swear on your life that you didn't know about this girl being ripped away from her family and being forced into a world she knew nothing about!"

"I swear!"

Lily paused and breathed deeply, tears running down her cheeks. "That girl has been through hell and back since she has been in this school and they have been here a year! She has no idea about who she is or that she even has a sister! And I knew her family and I could have told her about herself and her family but no, I have to look at that girl for the rest of my life and wonder if she ever wants to know who she is!"

"Then tell her…tell her who she is. Even I know she deserves that." Severus pointed out to the crying woman.

She looked up from the floor and into his dark eyes, more tears leaving her almost lifeless eyes. "And what if she refuses to acknowledge who she is?"

It seemed the Potions Master didn't have an answer for her.

Lily then seemed to remember why she wanted to talk to her former friend, and wiped away the stray tears and stepped forward and gestured to a chair, silently asking if she could sit. Severus nodded curtly.

Severus then sat opposite her and opened his mouth…

But the fierce redhead cut him off.

"I wanted to talk to you because of the tension, and me being back doesn't make it any better." Lily started. "And I wanted to address a few things," she paused and took a deep breath, "number one: our friendship…"

They both sat there in silence.

"What is there to talk about?" Severus clipped in a haughty tone, but Lily just cocked her head slightly and gave him that look.

"We have a lot to talk about and you know that," Lily gave him a very pointed look as she leaned her body forward to make her point, "first off, why did you start hanging out with the Death Eaters?"

Severus squirmed under Lily's deadly stare. "Well, um…"

He took a deep breath and started again, avoiding eye contact as much as possible. "I felt lonely and pressured then Black, Pettigrew, Potter and Lupin started bullying me…and I just got caught up with everything and I…I didn't know what to do."

Lily sat there, tossing over the truth in his words, and, finally, decided that it was the truth.

"But you weren't alone, you had me. You have always known that you could talk to me about anything, even if I hated something I would always be there for you. So, you can't say you had no one because you did, you just never opened up to them."

"You had no idea how hard it was for me to be going through that." Snape snarled, glaring furiously at his former friend.

"I would of if you told me!" Lily had stood up at this point, and slammed her fist on the table next to her, making it shake and Severus' face draining of any colour he had in it.

Tears formed in Lily's eyes as she whispered, "I guess I was wrong. Maybe we can never sort this out."

Lily walked out silently, tears streaming down her face, sobs clenched in her throat, leaving her former friend to brood over her words and actions.

 _Why? Why?! Why couldn't he listen to reason? You need to get over this, over him and your friendship! You need to find Hermione and tell her, then send a message to James whilst he's at Gringotts to check over some things. I also need to find Harriet Brookes. And the rest of that family. Then I need to organise a meeting with the Wizengamot. Oh Merlin, so much to do and so little time. There's a war coming, I don't know when, I don't know who'll we'll be fighting, but it's coming._

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone. Good news, I'm clearly not dead! YAY! Sorry about the HUGE time gap between this chapter and the last, but school and just life in general got in the way and for that I apologise. But other good news, the plot is moving forward! So very soon we'll be at the Wizengamot and hopefully lily will be able to find Hermione's long lost family. But is everything as it seems?


	18. Perfect

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages._ **Thoughts of the narrator.**

* * *

 _Chapter 18: Perfect_

Sirius opened the infirmary door, holding it open for Narcissa, and followed behind, dread and sadness coursed through his veins. Dread for the fact that he didn't know what was going to happen to his godson. Dread because he didn't know when a storm was going to arrive. Dread for the long winter coming, bringing death and destruction with it. Sadness, as great as any country, for the love of his family, new and old, and whether they would survive for another year. And even more dread for the time when he will face the Wizengamot.

Narcissa glided in, dress skimming the flagged stones, intrigue written all over her face. She turned to Sirius to see why she was there. She voiced that. "What are we doing here?"

Sirius could only nod towards an area which was cornered off by a white sheet, signifying a private area of the ward. The blonde furrowed her brows in confusion for a second but quickly turned on her heel and started towards the area at a brisk pace, silent prayers running through her mind, hoping it might not be her son or one of her friend's sons or daughters.

She reached the sheet and brought her hand up, and as quick as a flash, she pulled it back, revealing a young girl holding a boy's hand. The boy was clearly in a deep sleep, scars, cuts and bruises adorning his body, but he almost looked angelic with a soft light from the window casting over his face. Narcissa took a cautious step forward, hovering her foot from the floor as the girl snapped her head around, her hair bouncing over her shoulder; warm brown eyes bored into Narcissa's pale face. The blonde witch had seen those eyes before – Raina Brookes.

Narcissa could feel the colour drain from her face, her perfect façade crumbling at the sight of this girl. She almost lost her balance as she stared back into those eyes. Those perfect eyes. She was taken aback. The last time she had seen Raina was before Lily and James Potter had been murdered by the Dark Lord. She turned her heads slightly towards Sirius in question. But he wasn't looking at her. Narcissa followed his gaze and remembered the poor boy. She recognised him too – Harry Potter. Even though she couldn't see his mother's striking eyes, and his scar was covered by his hair, she could still tell who he was due to the fact that she knew the girl and cast her mind back to when Draco had come home and talked about Harry and a girl called Hermione and how close they were. She assumed the girl was Hermione.

Sirius looked back at Narcissa and placed a hand on her am and directed her toward a secluded area of the ward.

"His aunt and uncle beat him."

Sirius broke the silence with his statement, his voice barely a whisper. Narcissa looked back at him, an awful feeling churning her stomach at the news.

"He should never have gone through something like that." Narcissa said, sadness deep in her tone. Another awkward silence fell between them, but it was a silence of comfort, a sign that Narcissa felt bad for Sirius and the Potter boy.

"There's something else as well," Sirius commented, voice still barely above a whisper, "Dumbledore manipulated him and has probably done a lot of drastic things that we don't know about."

Narcissa never trusted that crooked man but to hear that he controlled a small child the same age as her son…it was heart-breaking. Sirius's voice nearly cracked, whispered words caught in his throat, but he carried on.

"Snivellus bullied and alienated him."

Narcissa's eyes went wide, thinking Severus could never hurt a child, even though his hatred for James Potter was strong.

"That makes no sense though. Why would Severus do that to an innocent child?" She asked, hope that Sirius was lying or exaggerating about Severus's actions swimming in her body.

Sirius's eyes met with Narcissa's, now cold and hard unlike before when they were filled with sadness and hope. "He's a monster."

Narcissa stopped in her place. Sirius's words hit her harder than she thought anything would. This was the man that helped her son at schoolwork and helped raise her son…along with Lucius. She suddenly realised that she had missed any inkling that her old friend was as bad as everyone else said he was. She now realised that Severus's small actions of being a monster Narcissa had passed off, thinking nothing of it and assuming it was something to do with the Dark Lord. Merlin, why was she so stupid sometimes? She knew through the Death Eater meetings that they all could do some pretty awful things but she never imagined Severus doing something as extreme as bullying and alienating children. Innocent children even.

With every word that came out of Sirius's mouth Narcissa realise how in the dark she had been, to not just Severus's actions but everyone's, her always passing it off as something to do with something personal going on in their lives. She tried to make Sirius stop, but he wouldn't.

Narcissa could feel her tears threatening to spill over her eyes as she stepped closer to Sirius, but he did not move, his voice still a whisper.

"His friends lied to him…"

The witch grabbed his arm, trying to comfort him, trying to make him stop his words, but she couldn't.

"He never had a proper family!"

Sirius' elevated tone shocked and frightened Narcissa. She had never known her cousin to yell.

"There was nothing you could do." Narcissa tried to comfort Sirius, but he wasn't having it.

"Why didn't you help me?" Narcissa abruptly took a step back, shocked at her cousin's words, "You did nothing to help me; you just sat in your house, not even teaching your son the right way, not even showing him the right path. You could've done something, anything! But you did nothing! And that shows where your real loyalties lie."

The tears that were swimming in the blonde's eyes were now running down her cheeks, leaving light red tracks across her skin, black from her mascara dripping down mixed with her tears, some of the same mascara dried up beneath her eyes from the amount of times she'd cried since she arrived at the school –she almost looked like a ghost who was dead from the amount of crystal tears that leaked from her eyes, leaving no amount of water in her body to keep her alive. In this moment, she looked like a ghost that looked like a broken doll who had been played with too many times, who had been battered against a million walls and who had had enough; enough of men putting her down or hurting her. A broken doll that no longer felt loved; a broken doll that had no reason to live and was devoid of all emotions as they had all leaked out within her tears that fell to the floor and created a puddle of mixed up emotions on the perfect floor. _A perfect floor of lies_ , Narcissa thought viciously. With more vigour than she imagined, the woman wiped away her tears from her stained cheeks, a sense of determination coursing through her veins, her blood no longer cold or devoid of emotions. Narcissa Malfoy was now full of hot, fiery passion and determination –something that was deadly against her enemies and a perfect weapon for her allies or for the ones she loved. _Perfect_ , Narcissa spat in her mind, _something I've always been_ _told to be like; be the perfect lady, the perfect wife. I had to look perfect and act perfect. I don't care what happens to me, I'll show them what perfect is._

"Maybe the reason I didn't help you was because if I even tried to object to your sentence then I would have to give up information that I had heard from Death Eater meetings and no amount of money would've stopped my family from going to jail. And I may not love Lucius, but he is the father of my son and I'd do anything to make sure that my family isn't torn apart, broken from the vicious lies, rumours or words of truth from the people of this school, from the people of this harsh world. And least of all I wasn't going to let the Ministry tear my family apart, seam by seam until there was nothing left but my son being isolated and alone with him thinking his parents could've done more or him thinking that his parents didn't love him enough to protect him from all of the vicious and dangerous things in the world. Because that is what a mother does, she keeps her children safe no matter what. A mother must love her children, on that front a mother has no choice." Narcissa finished and she saw that Sirius was staring at the floor, clearly understanding her words somewhat. Narcissa knew that no man could ever understand the love women bear for their children, that was why women were given the task of carrying children, because whoever created them knew men could never understand how much a woman would do for her child if she had one.

"I understand." Sirius whispered.

Narcissa arched an eyebrow, "Do you?"

Sirius looked into Narcissa's eyes and smirked. "Well, I understand why you couldn't object to my sentencing, especially because no one had any idea where Pettigrew went. To be honest, I don't think he's still out there." Narcissa stared intently into her cousin's eyes, wondering if the man could be dead, "He wasn't really the surviving type. Y'know one year James, Remus, the rat and I went camping and I'm pretty sure Pettigrew wet himself during the night because of all of the sounds from the animals coming from the woods."

Narcissa laughed at the story. And she suddenly remembered that she hadn't laughed in years.

"He didn't deserve any of it though. He's done nothing wrong. He's never harmed anyone." Sirius said, suddenly on the topic of Harry again.

Narcissa nodded her head in agreement and suggested that they find somewhere to talk somewhere more private when a certain redhead flew open the doors.

"Lily!" Sirius exclaimed in happiness.

"Lily?" Narcissa questioned, confusion written across her face as she turned to Sirius, about to ask for answers.

"This will definitely take a long time to explain." Sirius regarded to no one in particular.

* * *

Neville, Luna and Tom walked through the halls of Hogwarts, searching for the Founders but with no success. They travelled past student after student, sometimes knocking into others and making the other students drop their books or unfinished pieces of homework from the summer, whilst others such as first or second years, created a parting whenever they saw Tom in the crowd. Neville was leading the group to Merlin knows where, and checked behind him every few moments to make sure that Luna and Tom hadn't got caught up with crowds of students rushing around to some place or another. And quite a few times Neville saw sadness in Tom's eyes when the younger years gave him frightened looks, clearly news spread fast about who Tom was, but the emotion didn't stay long in Tom's eyes and was replaced by a guarded expression; something Neville noticed Tom did a lot. Neville also noticed that after many first and second years sending Tom unsure looks, his guarded expression crumbled and was replaced with a fiery anger in his eyes and his jaw was clenched. This worried Neville a great deal. He had only seen Tom lash out once, in the Common Room where everyone was there to see his anger first hand and Neville and the other heirs had learnt during first year that anything dramatic or scary spread like wildfire around the school. The rumour or story igniting the wildfire gossip and they – the heirs- knew that this was only the smallest spark of a bigger fire surrounding Tom and everything he says or does.

"Where in the name of Merlin could they be?" Neville began to complain, pacing back and forth, Tom and Luna infront of him.

Luna snapped out of her daze and focused on Neville, though the dreamy expression on her face didn't seem to fade. "They probably got distracted by some of the Nargles." She said innocently.

"There are no such things as Nargles!" Tom snapped at the girl, clearly quite agitated at something, but it didn't mean that Neville wasn't shocked at the boy's tone, since as the whole time when they were wandering aimlessly around the castle, Tom and Luna seemed to be quite calm and open with each other and it was the most Neville had seen the Slytherin heir open up to anyone. Although Neville wasn't surprised when he saw that Tom opened up to the Ravenclaw as all of the rest of the heirs, including Neville, had something against the boy, whether it be something to do with family or to do with war but all of them had some modicum of hate for him. And the Ravenclaw girl seemed sweet and forgiving and easy to talk which made Tom open up to her and no one else.

"This isn't helping guys, we need to-" Neville started before Luna interrupted him in the sweetest way possible.

Neville followed Luna's finger and stared at the wall behind him as he saw a massive, ornate mahogany door form infront of his eyes, a smirk of disbelief tickling his lips.

"I think you found the Come and Go room, Neville." The blonde-haired witch stated, a small smile on her face as she grabbed Neville's and, making the boy stare at the entwined hands, made her way up to the door and pushed it open.

Instantly, the Hufflepuff heir felt a sense of warmth and family as he Luna dragged him into the vast room where he saw four people sitting around a dancing, bright red flame. The four adults all turned and saw Neville and Luna in the room and Tom lingering in the threshold, their chatter dying away instantaneously at the abrupt intrusion. Even in his shock at the people he had found in the room, the Hufflepuff heir couldn't help but slowly wander around the room, touching things occasionally to make sure everything was real.

The walls were a muted grey with dark red curtains covering big windows which created a false light stream into the room. Bookcases lined one of the walls filled with what looked like notebooks full of, what Neville assumed was, spells written and created by the Founders. A cluster of chairs were circled around a wooden table strewn with parchments, plants which were as green as emeralds dotted around the room, sharpened weapons hung on some of the walls in case someone needed to use them, the hilts of the swords gleamed in the light of the fading candles hanging in the air and the fake sunlight made the precious stones set in the hilts create rainbows across the room. A potions set was in the furthest corner of the room.

"What is this place?" Neville queried breathlessly, still astonished at the sheer beauty of the room…for some reason it made him feel whole…at one with magic and connected with Hogwarts.

He noticed Helga smiling in the corner of his eye.

"This is the Room of Requirement. Not many can find this place…especially a room which already has the people you were searching for in it." Helga commented, her smile broadening when Neville blushed at the compliment and the fact that the woman knew what they were trying to do.

Neville turned towards the Founders and wondered aloud, "Then how did I find you?"

Salazar chuckled at the young boy. "Oh, dear child…we each created rooms where only ourselves and our true heirs who were worthy enough could find these rooms," Salazar told them, evading answering the question he was asked, something Neville picked up on, "and clearly you are worthy." He finished.

Neville furrowed his brow in confusion at the man's words but Rowena rolled her eyes at Salazar.

"What the old fool means-"

"Old! What do you mean old!?"

"Is that you wished for something, and this room," she gestured around the huge room, "is one of the only places we can go in the castle without old Dumblesnore listening in." Rowena stated, rolling her eyes again.

"Listening in?" Neville queried.

Luna spun on her heels to face the boy and gave him a dazzling smile before answering him, "Hogwarts always tells me to not say some things aloud, she fears that he'll found out about her and try to manipulate her like the old man does to everyone else." At the last part Luna glanced at Tom, unknown to all but one, before turning her eyes to Helga as the happy woman said that that was what they must be here for.

Neville nodded his head slightly, betrayal coursing through his veins as he thought about Dumbledore. Like almost every Gryffindor and student in the castle, he thought he could trust Dumbledore and that he was so pure and light – Neville and everyone else thought wrong.

By the time Neville shook his head of his thoughts, Luna was infront of Helga, the woman cupping Luna's hands in her own and they were both smiling from ear to ear. Although Neville seemed to think Luna would never stop having a smile on her face. He liked the girl, she was intriguing yet challenging in some ways. Her freakish intelligence seemed to make her more formidable. Obviously not many people realised she was intelligent as lots of people called her Loony Lovegood, eventhough they had only been at school a few days. The Hufflepuff heir felt sorry for her. He was sure she was already an outcast in Ravenclaw it seemed – since she was always alone when he saw her a few times – and a lot of people bully her for her being different…for her being quirky.

He was brought back to reality when he felt someone nudge him. It was Godric.

"You didn't miss much whilst you were zoned out." The man whispered into his ear.

Neville had the grace to blush again.

"Well, we must be off! Salazar has the Slytherins to round up, I have Gryffindors to calm down – the Merlin painting really has thrown them off – Rowena seems to be doing some important thinking, and Helga will be talking and advising dear Luna for a few hours it seems. Why don't you and Tom do something?" Godric gave the boy a rather pointed look which said to keep an eye on Tom, Godric still felt that there was something off about him, and the four adults lead the way out of the room, giving Neville no time to think about what he was going to do with Tom.

Boy, this was going to be an awkward day.

* * *

Salazar ambled through the halls of Hogwarts, enjoying the terrified looks he was getting from some of the students – probably enjoying them a little too much; he was going to need as much happiness as he could get if he was going to go through with his plan to talk to his snakes. Gods he thought they were dumb. The whole lot of them. His House has really gone to the dogs since he was technically first alive.

Salazar laughed aloud, earning a few worried glances from some students, making them quickly walk down the corridor, trying to get away from him, as he remembered the Daily Prophet article about their return and the Potter's resurrection as well as Black's release. He could imagine the chaos going on outside the castle's walls, people going berserk in the streets, people spitting out their drinks as they read the headline whilst sitting down for their breakfast, it was a glorious thought. Yeah, now Salazar realised why Godric said he was psychotic in the way he thinks.

He finally came to the staircase that lead to what was known to most of the students, the dreaded dungeon. Salazar, now quite pissed as he was mentally going over what he wanted to say in the calmest way possible though he knew it wouldn't be that calm, started down the stairs, wondering why he decided to make his hallways, staircases and even the dungeon so extremely rich looking. As if the pureblood little shits needed more reason to think that they were more important. Don't get him wrong, Salazar didn't mind purebloods, or any other type of blood type for that matter, but he knew his Slytherins were prejudiced as hell and would get much joy over seeing someone else being put down for their parentage. Shaking his head of his thoughts, the man reached the wall that hid the Slytherin Common Room and harshly hissed something in Parseltongue, causing the old and weathered stones – obviously, the Black Lake had seeped its way through the walls sometime whilst he had been dead, well in a portrait and also technically dead – to open up. He stepped inside the darkened chasm that was illuminated by torches lining the walls, flecks of silver and green able to be seen due to the limited light.

A group of students were sat on some of the black leather chairs scattered around the room. The man could now see their faces as they all whipped their heads around at his entrance. They all glanced nervously at each other. A boy with black hair stood up, cleared his throat and stood proudly in his place as he addressed Salazar.

"What do you think you are doing down here?" The boy almost hissed at him. Clearly, he wasn't the most popular with his snakes. Salazar arched one of his eyebrows at the boy's blatant disrespect of him. Evidently this was the Slytherin King – a title given to the Slytherin that was top of the hierarchy with the most support, someone who had the respect of the others, someone who everyone wanted to please. Sycophants.

Though this boy wasn't the sort of Slytherin King that he should have been. The boy started to fidget as Salazar continued to stare him down. The boy knew that he was being tested and scrutinised. And he knew he was failing.

"Go get the rest of your housemates." Salazar ordered but the boys made no sign of movement. "Now." He uttered coldly, making the boys scramble to get their bearings and obey his command. In the end they did, leaving the man alone in the dark, dingy and frighteningly cold room (if you could even call it that).

He scanned the room, looking at the furniture, and decided to conjure up a chair for himself which spoke volumes. Waving his hand, a throne – which he would deny that it was – materialised infront of him and he sat down on it, elegantly of course, when, abruptly, he heard a little gasp and he swivelled his head to the side and saw a terrified second year cautiously take a step back, eyes wide.

"Hello." He said, a small smile on his face as the girl stepped back again which induced her tripping over something and starting to fall, but luckily, Salazar caught her just before her head hit the hard floor.

"That was a rather stupid thing to do." He commented, effectively making the girl blush in embarrassment. "And who might you be?"

"P-Pansy Parkinson, sir." The girl stammered out, creating a bigger smile on Salazar's face at her nervousness.

He squinted his eyes in a playful manner at her and inquired, "Are you sure you're Pansy Parkinson, you don't seem very sure?"

They girl stood straighter at his words – purebloods and their self-importance he thought to himself- and confirmed that she was Pansy Parkinson.

Though the girl turned a deeper shade of scarlet at the attention from the powerful wizard, causing Salazar to rethink his thoughts on her self-importance. She seemed just a shy girl whose family prides themselves on being in Slytherin and acting like rubbish, no good purebloods. He sighed mentally as he thought about how he used to say that about all of his snakes. How they were so shy and would never be like their parents – oh how wrong he was.

Thankfully, Pansy didn't care about his internal monologue running through his head as she just sat down on one of the leather sofas and Salazar copied her action, instead sitting on his throne – which again, he would vehemently deny that is what it was – and staring at the girl, trying to figure out how to talk to her.

Why, oh why did there have to be a wrench in his flawless plan?

Of course, Salazar knew of the girl and her family thanks to Rowena, Merlin knows how she gets her information on everyone and everything whilst being stuck in a painting for nearly a thousand years, as well as the going ons of his House. So the man knew all about the hierarchy and how they were acting, but he wanted to hear it from one of his students first hand and not from some off hand information that made its way back to Rowena…not that he didn't trust her and her information…it was just that he didn't exactly want to believe it was that bad in Slytherin.

"How is my House?" Salazar rather politely asked, considering that he was seething on the inside as he recalled everything Rowena had told him. Pansy looked up at him, shock registering on her face, though only in her eyes. She opened her mouth like a fish before shutting it quite quickly when she caught him staring at her funnily.

"It's um…um," she fidgeted with her school skirt to create a distraction from the awkward conversation, "it's probably best if you ask someone from the older years. They've been here longer than I have and they will give you the most information." Pansy muttered, staring at her lap, hands still fidgeting.

Salazar squinted his eyes critically at her as a silence fell between them.

"But I want to hear it from you. You may be one of the youngest in my House but I would appreciate it if you would tell me everything; possibly give me a few hints of how to make life in Hogwarts better or easier." He commented smoothly, giving her a dazzling, charming smile to try and get her to talk…and it worked.

Seeing his smile, the girl seemed to have gained confidence to speak openly about the doings of the House.

"Not everything is so smooth in Slytherin, unlike the other Houses. I don't think a lot of the students in our House realise how isolated we are. We have our own trust system but none of us actually trust each other. Most of the students are just vying for power. There isn't a Head of First year yet but Draco is the Head of our year, though I'm sure that Daphne is trying to take over Malfoy, and I'm sure that she will." Pansy spoke, words dripped with rose water of complete bliss and innocence – this child was still pure and not tinted by the darkness in the world; yet.

"Hogwarts would be better if Dumbledore wasn't here," she continued, Salazar voicing his agreement to her.

"Don't worry, we're working on that." He commented, his anger growing more as he thought of the senile bonehead.

Pansy pursed her lips as she thought more on the subject of making the school better. "Perhaps getting rid of the Houses…well maybe not getting rid of them but integrating them more, especially as we are as isolated as I said before. It's just," she sighed, "I don't want this House to be defined by a couple of wizards and witches following in the darker footsteps of the world. The other Houses don't really think about how some of us might not want to be like our parents or grandparents. We just want to be us. Getting rid of some of the teachers would also be a start."

Salazar silently agreed with the girl as she continued on about certain teachers who weren't very good at their job or who were just biased. Changes definitely needed to be made immediately.

Just after the Parkinson girl had finished her comments, the wall opened up to reveal the rest of his House. All of them seemed to be reluctant to enter but with the help of one of the seventh years poking their wand into the other's backs to get them moving, they all soon flooded the Common Room. There wasn't much room left as the trickle of students stopped entering the Room.

It was clear which year was which as they all sat together in their years, the Head of each year, with the exception of the first years, standing or sitting on a chair whilst the rest of them sat on the floor – unless you were the sixth or seventh years of course, them sat on some furniture, evidently forcing Pansy out of her spot on one of the sofas. That particular action made Salazar snap at the sixth year who shoved her, making the sixth year sit on the floor whilst Pansy sat on the sofa where he wanted to sit.

Gazing around the Common Room and working out who was who, he finally spoke, "Where is Tom?"

"And why would he be here?" A girl from seventh year bit out, disgust clear on her face. "That stupid Gryffindor bastard has no place here."

For the umpteenth time that day, Salazar raised an eyebrow. "That Gryffindor bastard just so happens to be my heir and the new leader of this atrocious behaving House."

Oh, how hilarious it was to see some of their faces. Yep, back to the original thought of him being psychotic and vicious.

The ex Slytherin King opened his mouth to protest before Salazar waved his hand and the boy tried to get his words out but found that he couldn't.

God, they were so annoying, childish and stupid.

"You," he pointed at the ex-Slytherin King, "go find out where my heir is and bring him here. He's your new replacement. I hope you had a nice time at the top since as it's now been cut short, although I dare say if you're foolish enough to try and go against anything I say, you wouldn't have made a good King." Salazar said that last bit with a belittling smile on his face.

Again, the boy tried to say something but of course nothing came out.

"What I'm sure he's trying to say is that he's wondering how on earth he's going to explain to the new King that he needs to come down here with the fact that his voice has been blocked off by your magic." A girl popped up, a sweet smile of victory on her face – clearly, she hadn't liked the ex-King – as she addressed him.

"I'm sure he'll find a way to explain, even if it makes him do something spectacularly foolish."

At this some of the students giggled as the boy's face blanched at the embarrassing sights the man was sending him. And with that the boy was gone.

Salazar gracefully sat back on his throne, calculating eyes gracing over the students again, a stifling silence settling in the Room. Some of the students began to fidget, others started to whisper, although trying to hide it behind small hands. _First years and their childish acts. They haven't been taught by someone in my House then, for shame._

The outspoken girl seemed to be just annoyed by some of the Houses antics as he was. She seemed to be bored out of her mind with what was happening.

"You girl," he nodded at the bored girl.

"The girl has a name." She snapped back at him, arms crossed at her chest. All whispers stopped abruptly as they all turned to stare at the girl, every so often flicking their gazes between her and Salazar, wondering what he might do to her.

An eyebrow raised he asked, "And what is the girl's name?"

"Her name is Gemma. Gemma Farley." She said confidently, clearly not deterred by who he was.

"Well Gemma Farley, Salazar Slytherin would like to talk with you." And with that he stood from his chair, pushing it back as he went, creating a deafening screech, Gemma following him.

He walked towards the cold wall where the entrance was held, students shuffling out of the way as they closed in on the opening.

When they reached it, Salazar hissed lowly, making the students near flinch or shiver because of it.

The walls parted to let them through, whispers spurting out again as the stones closed up again.

The girl followed him in silence as they made their way across the corridor, Salazar turning down an abandoned hallway which hadn't been walked in in years if the dust and puddles on the floor were anything to go by.

Stepping through a puddle, which made the girl cringe as she unwittingly stepped through, they trekked down further, careful not to let anyone hear them.

When they stopped, Salazar got a clear look at her as she whispered a 'Lumos' and brought her black as night wand towards her head, a sassy look on her face. Everything about her was sassy in reality. The way she was holding her wand near her head, her wrist flicked, an almost bored expression on her face. Her red lips pursed, her other arm laying nonchalantly at her side, one leg stretched at an angle, heightening her sassiness. Something that weirdly made Salazar smile, knowing that at least someone was good enough to stand up for themselves and hopefully stand against someone when they aren't making the best decisions.

She had shoulder length blonde hair, almost like the Malfoy's shade of blonde but with a more golden tint to it. Her eyes were also like the Malfoy's. A pale grey. She was probably a distant relative, or a close one since as the Malfoy's liked to inbreed. She was skinny which was good for when you would want to make a quick escape from a duel or dangerous situation. Like most Slytherins she was as pale as the snow.

"If you just wanted to bring me out here to look me up and down then you shouldn't have had bothered." Gemma remarked.

 _I have to admire the fire she has._

"I asked you out here to talk." He told her.

"No shit." She dryly spoke, an unimpressed look on her face. Salazar had to definitely admire her sass. Sass and him went hand in hand.

"You're not like the others. They are all sycophants whilst you are different, you don't like to follow stereotypes, do you?" He noted, her face then turned into an impressed look as she registered his words. Clearly she was impressed at the fact that he would say that about his own House.

"Rowena has told me about you and your family, Miss Farley-" Salazar slyly said.

"So I'm sure that you know all about my pitiful family." Salazar seemed to be taken aback by her words since he has never known a Slytherin to disrespect their family like that, although this girl seemed to be full of sweet, refreshing surprises.

"Which means you know that I don't have the smoothest relationship with my parents, mainly due to the fact that they decided to do nothing in the war except skulk on the side-lines, never fully choosing one side or the other, backstabbing the other side whenever they wished. It didn't bring them much happiness though. Especially since I decided to stop returning to my home since fourth year. Although it isn't really my home anymore nor was it ever in fact. The way they backstabbed and double crossed brought them a lot of pain. The so called Light Side showed their intentions of not protecting my family if anything were to happen to us, and the Dark Lord hunted my parents down and tortured them until they nearly had no sanity left." A fire of hatred lit up her deep eyes as she retold the facts of her family. "Though they deserved what they got. I don't think I've ever known my parents to do something good, but once their choices had been made there was no turning back, so here I am to see things through. I'm shunned in my own House and the others hate my House so much that they won't give me a chance to prove myself. Only some have had the decency to actually listen to me and my views on the stupid matters and quarrels which go on in this damned school."

She really was a fascinating girl. She knew right from wrong but never saw the world in black and white. Never judged anyone for what their parents did. Never judged someone by what House they were in. Never judged someone for their own views. Although she did once say in the future that everyone is entitled to their wrong opinion.

Though she judged someone for the choices they have made. Judged them for the friends they had because she said that the people you surround yourself with reflect what you believe and want, reflect on how you want to act. She judged people on their actions, whether they decided to stand up for what was right or whether they were subdued and too afraid to speak in the most dire circumstances. She judged them for the words they spoke.

"Your actions may make you feel sick or abandoned but your words prick you and hurt. They cut the deepest and they may seem like perfect roses, but they all have thorns which make you bleed. And words you will never forget as they are what make people have faith in something, they can manipulate you and then they ultimately stab you and break your walls of protection by using their sharp, honed thorns." She stated, eyes fixated on the light still emitting from her wand, which just so happened to be decorated with roses which had sharp thorns, red the colour of blood coloured the rose petals whilst the black showed off the thorns, making them almost blend into the main colour of the wand. Salazar supposed that was what she was saying. The most beautiful rose has thorns which can blend in to their surroundings or you can forget they're there because of the distraction of the petals. The subtlety of words and possessions.

"Is there something you actually wanted me for? Or are you just here to gently scold your annoying House full of asshats, or have you come here for a real purpose?" Gemma queried, boredom once again upon her face.

"Your attention span never seizes to amaze me, my dear." Salazar joked, effectively creating a small smile on her face. Yes, he liked her a great deal more than the others. "But I want you to do something for me."

"Oh?"

"Yes, I wish for Tom to stay here in the dorms but I fear that he will not be accepted, and from the reaction I got whilst I've been here – which hasn't been a long time – has been shocking. Tom is not well liked by the other heirs, nor by most of the school. They all have a reason to hate him, and they don't hold back on showing it. People are scared of him and I need someone to be on his side." He finished, silently praying she would get the hint.

Thankfully she did.

"So, you want me to be that person." Salazar nodded. "Yet that would insinuate that you aren't on his side as you're asking me to be there for him and that person isn't you?"

Salazar sighed deeply. In truth, he didn't quite trust Tom, much like the rest of the population of the school it seems. "Tom…I don't trust him. I saw him snap in the Gryffindor Tower and I highly doubt that was him at his angriest. If the students keep continuing the way they are acting now, I fear that he'll become the monster everyone makes him out to be." Salazar stressed to the girl, sure that a pleading look was plastered on his face.

"And what is he really?" She asked, voice steady and void of emotions, like she was unaffected by anything he had just said.

And her question made him hesitate and wonder what he really was. "In all honesty, I don't know. I haven't been around him long enough to know, and that's why I'm asking you. So you can get to know him and then report back to me about who he really is and if he is a threat…and if he needs to be…needs to be…"

"Dealt with." She finished for him. He nodded solemnly. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to lie to this girl, she was honest to him so he felt almost indebted to her. She tells the truth – so does he.

Gemma stirred as Salazar finished talking, going over the different possibilities of what Tom could be, wondering what she would find if she was to honour Salazar's wish. The man could see her mind whirling with every single thing that could occur. She was no fool. Her lips pursed before she asked him what she would get in return.

Still a Slytherin at heart.

Salazar pondered on what she could possibly want. She didn't particularly like her family so she probably wouldn't want protection for them, it seemed that she possibly had been disowned by them as well. Maybe she would want a place in the Ministry perhaps. His family may not have any good reputation left, but he was still a Founder of Hogwarts, the greatest school of Witchcraft and Wizardry the world had ever seen.

"No. Absolutely not. Those idiots lie, bribe and cheat their way through life and I am nothing like that." She spat after he suggested the idea of a position in the Ministry.

"Well what would you like then?"

The girl looked him up and down, evaluating how far Salazar would go for her to take the offer.

"If I was to accept your proposal, then in return I would like a role in the Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin." She stated, a sly look directed towards the man.

Salazar was shocked to say the least. He would've expected something more…different he supposed. Especially since the House of Slytherin hadn't had any role in the Wizarding World since the name Slytherin was lost and replaced with Gaunt. That family really weren't the soundest in the mind, didn't have a lot in the mind either.

Salazar considered what she was saying. Quite intricately really. If she wanted a role in his House then they would need to be reinstated in the Wizengamot, and that could take a long time considering that there were requirements to become the Lord again. Salazar barely thought about the fact about how long it would take to re-establish his family's reputation. And without reputation, the girl would get nowhere in life.

"I hope you realise that to have a role in my House then we would need to get back on the Wizengamot and getting the reputation we once had would take a long time. You would get nowhere in life without the prestige of another House like the Malfoys." Salazar pointed out to Gemma. Whilst, bewildering to Salazar, she had a smile on her face.

"We?" She questioned. "If I wanted a family with prestige to take me places in life rather unfairly, then I wouldn't be who I am. You need help. Desperately. Your little group of adults and children are going to need help with the Wizengamot and when you join it, you will need someone to organise meetings, dig up information on your enemies-"

"Enemies?" Salazar challenged.

Gemma gave him a 'you're stupid if you think you don't have any and I haven't noticed' look.

"Dumbledore specifically. You need someone to do some dirty work. Someone to help with connections, give you information on other Houses and their weaknesses as well as any scandals which could be used to our advantage. You need someone who isn't afraid to tell you when you're doing something stupid or so catastrophic that it will cause quite a commotion. You need me." She finished, and Salazar was finding it hard not to smile so much at her. He really liked her.

"It looks like we have some work to do then. And we'll be convening soon." He said to Gemma when all of a sudden, she pressed her hand to his mouth.

Salazar's happiness quickly turned into anger as her hand refused to move, even when he nearly kicked her to try and get her to stop, which promptly made her dig her wand – which was now unable to be seen, only felt, as she had whispered a small 'Nox' – into his neck, displaying a clear sign for him to stop struggling. Though she dropped her hand and wand as she turned and stared at two students who were stood at the end of the corridor.

"Who are you?" She harshly spoke to the silhouettes.

"I could ask the same question since as you decided to, what looked like, kidnap my ancestor." The shorter one said.

Salazar knew who the boy was – Tom.

"It's alright, Tom. This is Gemma Farley and she wasn't kidnapping me."

And with that the group made their way back to the Common Room, the ex-Slytherin King whispering the password (obviously, Tom had released the silencing charm Salazar had placed on the boy -, causing the stones the stones to once again part and let them through into the dungeons.

* * *

An hour later, the Founders, the heirs (excluding Tom since he was in the library), Lily and James, Sirius and surprisingly, a guy – a werewolf even – named Remus, and a girl Hermione knew not of. They were all crowded in the Founders Tower, the children on the floor, except the other girl, whilst the adults sat on the chairs and sofas. Lily and Sirius seemed quite anxious, both of them at the edge of their seats, whispering in hushed tones in what looked like an argument. Finally, Lily turned towards the gaggle of children, giggles and snippets of their conversations escaping their small huddle.

"I know that these last few days haven't been the best," Lily started after a long, deep sigh, "with Harry still in the Hospital Wing…things just haven't been settled. And now with something we've learnt…it just creates more difficulties."

Hermione's brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Lily sighed again and stared at her clasped hands in her lap. "I learnt something from Lucius Malfoy-"

"You trust the words spewing from that bastard's mouth?!" Sirius yelled at her, eventhough Lily was right next to him.

Lily's face distorted into one of anger, her cheeks turning a slight red. "Do not speak so crudely infront of the children!"

"Hermione, it's just…it's just. From Lucius Malfoy, I learnt about your heritage. Your real heritage." Lily got out, evidently the topic appeared to be hard on her from Hermione's view.

Her brows furrowed further as Lily started to ramble about what she'd heard the man say, not getting to the point anytime soon.

What did Lily want to say? And would it be good?


	19. A lot of questions

(Takes place during second year and above, new characters, Dumbledore and Weasley bashing) _Thoughts and messages._ **Thoughts of the narrator.**

* * *

 _Chapter 19: A lot of questions_

Lily suddenly stopped mid-sentence, eyes trained on Hermione, pain clouding them over.

"I-I can't..." She trailed off as she quickly bounded out of the tower, James yelling her name as he followed her outside, leaving many confused people in their wake.

"What was that all about?" Godric wondered aloud, his emotions showing on his face – unlike Salazar and Sirius who were wearing perfect facades to mask their emotions – as he looked at everyone in the room before turning to his wife and pleading with his eyes for her to find out what had happened.

Rowena sighed as she stared into her husband's addled face. "I can't work miracles, Godric." She said softly.

This made the man frown at her words – she always had some sort of idea.

"Since coming out of the painting, I haven't been able to know everything that happens in the school." She continued rather dejectedly, almost like she missed knowing about everything, "But I do have several theories." She finished hesitantly, glancing to the children as she said it.

Godric was even more befuddled at her words, but Rowena grabbed his arm and motioned for the other Founders to follow them.

Hermione sighed as the other two adults left (most likely to find Lily and James) whilst the girl that was left, leaned forward in her chair.

"Do they do that most of the time?" The girl asked Hermione, a strange gleam in her eyes; amusement maybe?, or perhaps it was loathing for Merlin knows what?

Hermione was very unsure on whether or not to answer her. Especially since she didn't know who this girl was.

The Ravenclaw heir bit her lip as she nodded her head, brows furrowed.

The other girl nodded her head but seemed more interested in contemplating something, probably what had just gone on, as she leant back in her chair, completely dismissing Neville and Hermione.

After what seemed like an age, Hermione turned her attention to Neville as she asked in a hushed tone, "What were you doing before we were hustled back here?"

Neville seemed anxious and she wanted to ease his nerves, even if she thought he was fretting about nothing, as she observed that he was fiddling with the end of his robes.

Neville averted his eyes from the girl's as she caught him looking, a blush staining his cheeks.

"I-I found Luna and Tom in the library and we went to find the Founders." He explained quietly, so quietly Hermione thought she had imagined him saying it. Clearly the other girl's presence was putting him on edge. Most likely because she was a Slytherin, and whilst Hermione didn't want to be prejudiced, she couldn't help but think that the Slytherin girl had a sharp edge to her, making her look extremely deadly with her pale hair framing her rather pointed features. Probably also because she looked related to Malfoy.

Hermione nodded at him eventually before asking him to elaborate about what happened after.

"Lu-Luna has something special about her," he spoke quickly, eyes glancing at the Slytherin girl, thinking that she might betray their group of happiness, well, group of people who could bring happiness and calm to their lives, hopefully, "and Helga did something to her, I'm not sure what." He said as Hermione's eyes brightened up at the indication of some new information she could research and soak up.

"But," Neville continued, "I was left with Tom as Salazar went off towards the Slytherin Common Room, Godric went off to sort out the rest of our House because of the Merlin painting." This made Hermione smile slightly.

Neville noticed this, he wasn't that stupid, and was a bit confused at first but guessed that she might have had some sort of connection to how the painting got there.

"Rowena went off somewhere and Helga went off with Luna." He finished, now looking at Hermione whilst she nodded her head.

Hermione then noticed that the Slytherin girl was now standing and making her way down the corridor towards the room which held the Founders.

"What are you doing?" Hermione hissed at her, eyes blazing in worry. The girl turned towards her and rolled her eyes.

"What do you think I'm doing?" She retorted sharply, her eyes now trained on the other girl. Hermione stalled for a few seconds before she huffed and stormed after her, bushy hair bouncing on her shoulders as she caught up, Neville tentatively following the two girls – he really didn't think listening in was a good idea, neither did Hermione.

Hermione reasoned that she was only there to try and stop the Slytherin girl from doing something utterly stupid eventhough she knew that a small – a very small part – of her wanted to listen in to see if the Founders knew anything about Lily's blubbering explanation and her dramatic, as well as slightly confusing, exit.

As the three continued down the long corridor, Hermione got rather frustrated at the unsettling, suffocating silence with questions. "Who are you?" She whispered as she quickened her pace to reach the other girl.

The other girl turned her head fractionally to look at Hermione with slight annoyance before she turned her head towards the corridor again without giving her an answer.

Hermione huffed again as the other carried on.

"It's probably best to ignore her." Neville said to her, a cautious look send towards the girl who they didn't know.

The Ravenclaw heir nodded her head as she contemplated who this girl could possibly be and why she seemed so fixated on ignoring them.

* * *

Salazar followed Godric into his quarters, the latter fuming as he slammed the door into Salazar's face, causing him to immediately take a step back as he didn't want his nose to be smashed in.

Salazar sighed as he saw Godric kick one of the wooden posts of the red covered bed which made him swear loudly, not because of the hurt he didn't feel, but because of the situation that had just gone on. And what Salazar was about to say to him…eventually.

Godric then sat down on said bed and huffed distraughtly as he stared forward and in turn, ignored his brother who was standing at the door.

"What was that all about?" Godric asked him, his voice cracking in the middle of his question – though Salazar didn't know why he was so emotional. The crack in his brother's voice made Salazar stride towards him and sling an arm around Godric as he sat on the bed next to him. The last time Salazar had heard his voice crack was at his wedding to Rowena. He was full of emotion as he said is vows to her and Salazar was sure Godric was very thankful that the old medieval weddings made the bride and groom drink some wine as a newly married couple, the wine signifying the blood they would now share from that day forward until their last.

"Do you remember the last time your voice did that?" Salazar quietly queried, eyeing his brother from the corner of his eye, and caught a small smirk gracing his lips.

"My wedding…" He said just as quietly as Salazar had asked.

Salazar could see that Godric had then spaced out after he answered Salazar's obvious intent of distracting him. Distraction he definitely managed. Salazar couldn't help but think back to that day.

Rowena had been adamant about having the lavish wedding in Spring. She was also the one who insisted on it being lavish as well. Not that Salazar minded since as he was known to share a rather luxurious mansion with his then new wife, Helga.

They seemed like an odd pair – him and Helga. Most people thought that he had put her under some sort of spell or potion. But in his mind Salazar thought that he had put her under a spell of love. Yikes! Merlin, maybe he was becoming soft since he'd been around the children. Helga and him hadn't known each other until he, Godric and Rowena had decided to create a school for the new generation of wizards and witches. Through Salazar, Godric had met Rowena as Godric had joined their little group of change-seekers. And through Rowena came the last and final Founder of the school – Helga.

At the start of the groups friendship and mission, he was very happy with keeping out of Helga's way as she was always so cheery and full of kind nature. At that earlier age, he preferred to skulk around in the shadows and isolate himself from everyone but Godric; he even stayed clear of his own family for Merlin's sake! Unfortunately, the distancing didn't last long as he once walked past the kitchen in the newly built Hogwarts, when there were no students and no portrait hiding the kitchen, and caught a whiff of his future wife's amazing, scrumptious baking. Salazar smiled softly (again, he thought about how soft in his personality he was becoming) as he remembered that she had baked the most delicious fudge which he couldn't help but try as she beckoned him into the room, inviting him to taste her confectionery. And with her known kind heartedness, how could he say no?

That eventually led to a close friendship as she taught him how to bake and cook – which he could say he was particularly good at both, thank you very much – as well as constantly eating Helga's baking, which then led on their romantic relationship as they spent more and more time together. The new students also seemed to notice their close relationship and were gossiping about it, not that Salazar noticed it, but Helga did as she was so close to the students. Godric used to tease him about his little, 'It's only a small, tiny crush on her, Godric, I swear!', crush on Helga. To most people, it seemed absurd that cold-hearted Salazar Slytherin and loyal, fair and kind Helga Hufflepuff were going to marry.

And once their engagement was announced, Rowena couldn't stop talking to Helga about weddings and how she secretly wanted Godric to propose to her, which he did promptly as soon as Salazar had dropped some obvious hints (Godric could be quite thick sometimes). Which then caused both women to quickly obsess over their respective weddings.

Rowena and Godric's wedding was something else though. It took place in Italy, Venice to be exact, and was held in the largest magical church Salazar had ever seen, white, red and blue flowers spread across the vast space of the church. Oh, and the gold. There was that in bucket loads. Gold decorated the ceiling of the church, the floor, the walls, and even Rowena's dress had gold covering some areas of the lace decorating the silk of her dress. Obviously, Godric was wearing his family's colours – scarlet and gold. So, even more gold was added to the mix. Though Salazar had to admit that it was all very beautiful.

After the long bonding of the pair, everyone flocked to a palace that was owned by Rowena's family for the reception. That was even more impressive.

"If you two don't mind that we interrupt your brotherly reminiscing?" Helga pleasantly asked, eventhough a slight frown was on her normally bright, sweet face.

Salazar and Godric both turned their heads towards the two women who were lingering by the door.

There was a long pause after that movement, Rowena seeming to hesitate about what she wanted to say.

"What?" Godric asked her, seemingly worried about her.

Rowena strode over to the red, plush sofa and dropped onto it in an undignified manner in Salazar's mind, though he could understand, in a way, why. Harry's mother running away from them all because of something that she began to explain, which was something about Hermione's real heritage, that made her breakdown in hysterics could definitely cause some unwanted emotions to surface, worry and uncertainty almost guaranteed to curl in your gut. Being undignified was excusable in his pureblood books with something like this.

He felt his wife glare at him as Rowena sat down; she knew him well enough to realise he was thinking about being shameful in some purebloods books. He winced at her piercing glare, which she didn't do often because of her caring and kind nature, but on occasion she would glare, and sent her a look which conveyed that he wouldn't judge one of his friends because of their feelings. _Wow._ _That was a new thought._

"Anyone want to elaborate on what happened?" Godric finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence, and making everyone whipping their heads towards him.

"Elaborate? A rather fancy word for you, my love." Rowena said rather deadpanned, though it would have normally, in any other circumstance, would've been a very laughable joke which would've continued with Salazar joining in the mocking. But it wasn't any normal circumstance.

Godric glanced at his wife with worry at her dead, emotionless voice. She was normally so full of life and no emotion would interrupt or change her views on a situation and how she dealt with it. Maybe she was feeling down because she didn't find out the information about Hermione before Lily? And if that was the case, Godric had a lot of work to do to try and make her feel happy again. He swore she thought that finding was some type of competition, and if she didn't "win" the "competition", she went into a state of depression. Something which sent her to a dark place.

Her dark place consisted of her constantly replaying the death of her family in her mind.

She created the 'knowledge competition' because of the traumatic event that occurred during her childhood – which she felt that she could've stopped if she knew more, or if she was braver.

Godric stepped towards the sofa and sat down and took hold of Rowena's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She gave him a watery smile – she knew what he was thinking about.

"I'm fine, honestly." She said softly and took a shaky breath to presumably calm herself, "But clearly what just happened is anything but fine." She addressed the room, her gazing falling upon each and every one of them.

"And that event was?" Salazar asked in a restrained tone, like Rowena he hated not knowing about something, and that was the voice he always used when he tried to hide that he had no idea (well he probably had multiple ideas of what it was, but he had to be sure and he could only find that out from Rowena) about what had happened or didn't understand a certain topic he was reading about.

Rowena's electric blue eyes now solely focused on Salazar and shook her head as she admitted something unexpected: "I have no idea. None at all."

* * *

Hermione's eyes widened as she heard that Rowena Ravenclaw, the creator of the House for wit, intelligence and creativity, had no clue about what had gone on.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the older girl roll her eyes at her. The older girl pulled back from the door and pushed passed the two second years and ambled down the corridor back towards the Common Room.

Only after Neville tugged at Hermione's sleeves a few times did Hermione snap out of her daze.

"We should get out of here before we're caught," he whispered seriously. And with that they followed the Slytherin towards the large end room.

"I'm Gemma by the way. Gemma Farley." The girl finally told them as she opened the door to the Tower and climbed through it and walked out of sight.

Neville turned to Hermione and asked: "This whole situation just got crazier, didn't it?"

Hermione nodded her head, subdued.

* * *

Lily, James, Sirius and Remus stayed in the Hogwarts infirmary since they had brought the unconscious Hermione there, Lily was holding one of Harry's hands in her own

Sirius paced quickly, hands pulling his hair out – literally – and angered eyes lingered on Remus' form that was sat in an uncomfortable chair.

Remus sighed deeply and stared at Sirius, who had stopped pacing frantically, and calmly said, "I should be the one that is angry."

Sirius' eyes seemed to light up in more anger at that, probably at the calm tone in his soothing voice, and stomped over to the chair and placed his hands on the arms of the chair, caging Remus into the chair.

"You should be angry?" Sirius questioned through gritted teeth, his breath coming out through his nose in angry waves, making it clear that he himself was very vexed. Remus flinched at Sirius' tone and wanted to lean back in the chair, but his survival skills told him to not act like he didn't care about this – about him and Sirius.

"YOU SHOULD BE ANGRY?!" Sirius yelled, making the werewolf flinch again, his hair almost buzzing with his whirling emotions in his body.

Lily moved her head so she could see the pair and saw that James was trying to move the exasperated Black from the chair but a lethal glare and a snarl immediately stopped his movements.

"My dear, sweet cousin Narcissa came to Hogwarts after I asked her to," Sirius patronisingly spoke, a fake dazzling smile plastered on his handsome face, "and do you know what she told me?"

Remus knew it was a trick question but he shook his head anyway, fear paralysing his body from the neck down because of the chilling look from the man keeping him in the chair. Remus was sure that if Sirius was not guarding the chair, he would've been far away from Sirius' anger storm.

"My dear cousin told me that you had a severe mental breakdown and isolated yourself for weeks, Remus!" Sirius said, causing the room to go eerily silent with James and Lily to have their full attention on the couple, even making Lily drop Harry's hand for her to gravitate towards the quarrelling couple.

"Remus?" Lily whispered at the man (whose eyes were staring at his folded hands in his lap), wanting to know if it was true. His silence was all the evidence she needed to know that it was true.

"Why did you do that, Remus?" James asked, tears glazing over his eyes as he was worried about his friend – he cared about his friend.

Remus looked up into his eyes as he choked out in a pained voice, "You and Lily…once I had seen your bodies…I lost it. I thought Sirius had betrayed you, betrayed us. I thought you had killed Peter." Remus told Sirius, now looking at him. "I was alone. Dumbledore refused to let me raise Harry, saying that with my condition I would only cause him harm.

"I didn't know where to go. My life was crumbling to pieces before my eyes. I turned to Mrs Malfoy because I thought that if she had any shred of love left for you, maybe I could find some solace with her. I didn't know for sure if she would take me in, but she did and I'm thankful for that.

 _"_ _You_ should be thankful for that." Remus whispered to Sirius, eyes pleading with his friend to forgive him and possibly his cousin for putting Remus in a plausibly dangerous situation.

Sirius sighed whilst running a hand through his hair before he dragged his hands over his face tiredly and sat on one of the hospital beds next to Remus.

"You should've talked to someone." Lily told him with sad eyes.

Remus averted his faze from hers, not wanting to see the pity in hers, and everyone else's, eyes. They stayed silent until the tired werewolf whispered something which would've been unheard if they weren't so focused on the man, but everyone was so focused on him that his words echoed in the silent room.

"I tried to talk to Dumbledore, but he just brushed me off and told me that I'd be fine and that it was only the shock of your deaths and Sirius' imprisonment." He took a shaky breath and blinked away tears as his voice cracked when he continued, "I tried to get Harry from your sister and her husband," He looked at Lily and James as he finished, "I really did…he, Dumbledore, said that he was safe and he was being spoilt by them and they were accepting him."

Lily stepped forward and took one of his hands as she told him that they knew that he had tried his best to get Harry back and that he wouldn't have known about what was happening to him.

"But I should've! I should've checked on him!" Remus exclaimed, tears running down his face and dripping into his soft jumper.

Lily shushed him and brought him into a crushing hug but they were quickly dragged from it as they heard groaning coming from one of the hospital beds – Harry's bed.

"Harry?" Lily asked, stepping away from Remus and started towards Harry's bed.

"Mum?" A groggy voice asked as his green eyes opened and he leapt forward and clung to Lily with not a lot of strength, which concerned her, as Lily wrapped her arms around his too small frame.

"What happened?" he asked, not letting go of his mum.

So, she explained.

"Someone go get Hermione." James spoke up and Sirius volunteered to go and find her, Remus trailing behind him, probably hoping to make sure him and Sirius were okay.

"Harry, we need to ask you some things." James said as he sat down on Harry's other side as Harry shifted uncomfortably.


End file.
